The Joys Of Children
by IceCreamAndPizza
Summary: A collection of one shots about Ash and Misty's life as they raise their daughter Maddie. Not in any particular order. Now complete.
1. Harder Than Training Pokemon

_**Harder Than Training Pokemon**_

MADDIE: AGE 1 1/2

I rubbed my tired eyes, hoping by some miracle I could wipe the exhaustion out of them. Regardless of the fact that on my journey I would stay up late and wake up early, I don't think I had ever felt this tired. Taking a sip of my coffee, I set it back down and stared into space waiting for it to finally take affect. I couldn't even concentrate I was so tired.

"Ash!" I heard someone's voice break through my mind.

My reply was somewhere between a grunt of acknowledgement and an attempted yes. For added effect, I set my head down on the table to try and take just a small nap. I just couldn't keep my eyes open no matter how hard I try.

"Ash!" I heard the voice again this time more powerful.

"What?" I finally answered trying to look up.

"Did you hear what I said?" my wife asked from across the table. She looked just as tired as I was with dark rings around her eyes.

"No."

She sighed and put her head in her hand, closing her eyes for a second. She probably knew if she had closed them any longer she might just fall asleep. "This is all your fault," she told me before taking a sip of her own coffee.

"My fault?" I asked her, barely getting the words out.

"Your stupid genetics," she explained. I just started at her blankly, having no idea what she meant by that statement. "Your mother warned me about this. She said you were just like this as a kid."

"Oh." I had actually known what she was talking about. She was referring to the sleeping patterns of our new daughter, the source of our exhaustion. Not even Pokemon training was this demanding. For what seemed like ages, our daughter would wake up constantly in the middle of the night, preventing anyone form getting a good nights rest. She had been like this when we first had her, but now that she was over a year old, we thought she would have grown out of it. We had tried everything those stupid books told us, even sometimes letting her cry herself to sleep. We quickly realized, though, that didn't work out like we hoped. And apparently, according to my mom, I was the exact same way as a baby. I was starting to regret ever having a kid.

"Brock's coming over today, though. He said he'd take her for the day," Misty told me.

"Oh thank god," I exclaimed, smacking my head on the kitchen table. Maybe I could finally get some sleep.

Misty snickered from across the table, a small smile appearing on her tired face. Looking up, I glanced at her smiling face and couldn't help smile myself. It made me wonder how, even when she was this exhausted, she still managed to look beautiful? I myself probably looked like crap, but she had this warm glow about her. For the first time that morning, I felt a sudden wave of peace. That is, before the peaceful moment was interrupted by some crying coming from upstairs.

Before I even said anything, I heard the chair across from me move and Misty groan in annoyance. "I'll get her," she said, pushing in the chair.

"No," I told her, standing up myself. "I'll get her." Before she could protest (not that I think she would) I pushed in my chair and headed upstairs.

When I opened the door to the nursery, I picked up my daughter and rocked her from side to side, hoping that would at least calm her down. It didn't matter, though, because she continued to cry even louder. It was then that I would pay anything for her to be able to speak and tell me what she wanted instead of me having to guess. She couldn't have been hungry because Misty had fed her the last time she went to get her. And after that, I had changed her. So what did she want?

Giving it one last shot, I carried her over to the rocking chair where I sat down and started to move it back and forth. Sometimes this worked, and I was praying that this was one of those times. Please fall asleep, I begged her, staring at her as if that only could transmit my pleas. It didn't work, though, as she continued to cry some more. Since I couldn't sing a lullaby due to my horrible voice, I resorted for the more humorous route.

"Maddie," I told her. "If you don't fall asleep and let Mommy and Daddy get some sleep I won't let you go on your Pokemon journey when you're older." Like she even knew what I was talking about. But out of some miracle, her crying quieted down to only small whimpers. I knew there was no way she actually understood what I said, so what was it? Just to make sure this wasn't a fluke, I opted for a story. I racked my tired brain for some kind of story before I settled for the story about the day I met Misty.

As I told the story, I saw my daughter's eyes slowly close into sleep. Finally! It had worked out of some miracle. Setting her back in her crib, I sat back down for a few minutes to make sure she was really asleep.

I felt something nuzzle my cheek and lick my face. Opening my eyes, I found Pikachu sitting in my lap. I must have fallen asleep when I sat down. In a quick panic, I glanced at the clock and saw that I had only been asleep for twenty minutes. Phew.

"Thanks, Pikachu," I told him before standing up to go find Misty. She was probably wondering where I was.

When I headed back to the kitchen, though, Misty wasn't sitting there anymore. Having my suspicions, I headed to the family room where I found my wife sleeping soundly on the couch. I smiled at the scene before me, taking in how pretty she looked when she slept. Picking her up while trying not to disturb her at the same time, I carried her upstairs to our room where I placed her on the bed and tucked her in.

"Mmm. . .Ash?" I heard her mumble in her sleep. "How's Maddie?"

"She's asleep." I told her. "Don't worry."

"How? What did you do?"

"Nothing. Just told her a little story about how this girl I knew stole my bike and never gave it back."

"Mmm. Okay. Make sure she gives it back." Man was she tired. She didn't even pick up on what I had said. I wonder what else I could get away with.

"Okay, I will dear." I kissed her on the forehead before she drifted back to sleep. Closing the door quietly behind me, I headed back downstairs to wait for Brock and feed Pikachu, but not before taking one last peak at Maddie to make sure she was in fact still asleep.


	2. She Was Here A Second Ago

**_She Was Here A Second Ago_**

MADDIE: AGE 3

"I'm going to go into this store right here and then I'll be right back, okay?" I hear Misty say.

"Okay. I'll be right here," I replied.

"Take care of Maddie. I'll only be a little bit," she reminded me before walking in the store.

As I waited for Misty, I sat on a bench in front of the store, pushing my daughter's stroller back and forth as I watched the people go by. I had never liked going to malls because people would always ask for my autograph or ask to see my daughter. Misty had promised, though, that she wouldn't be too long.

"Out, Daddy! Out!" I heard my daughter yell from the stroller. She had never been one to sit still for very long. Standing up, I went to take her out of the stroller before setting her beside me the bench.

I watched as she sat beside him, swinging her legs back and forth as she waved at the people who walked by. She had just started talking more, so it was very exciting for her to be able to test out the word "hi" on everyone that walked by. After a while a few people started to give strange looks, curious as to why Maddie had not stopped saying hi. Great, I thought. These people probably think something's wrong with my daughter now. I could feel my face burn up in embarrassment. Hoping to end the strange looks, I nodded and waved at a few people who passed by as if to say, carry on.

"Okay. I think that's enough, Maddie. People get the message," I finally told her. "Would you like a snack or something to drink?"

"Juice!" she cheered, bouncing a bit on the seat.

"Okay. One sec," I told her before walking to the stroller to grab her sippy cup. I could have sworn it was around here somewhere, I thought to myself as I dug through the bag Misty had brought. Aha, I cheered, finally finding it. With the sippy cup in hand, I stood back up only to discover that Maddie was no longer on the bench. In fact, I had no idea where she was. "Maddie?"

I looked in every direction, but the crowds of people walking in the mall obstructed my view. "Maddie! This isn't funny! No hide and seek!" There was no sign of her, though. I could feel the waves of panic rush through me, as my adrenaline kicked in and my senses heightened. I had to find her before something bad happened to her. Before... before.. Shit...Misty was going to kill me. She was going to walk out of the store, take one look at me and know instantly I had just lost our daughter. Hoping she was sill near by, I stood on the bench so I could get a better look.

"Ash?" I heard my name being called. "Are you looking for something?" Crap. It was Misty. How was I going to explain to her what happened?

"Maybe," I said sheepishly, slowing turning around to face her.

"Maybe?" she questioned me, her eyebrow arched over one eye. "Ash Ketchum, what are you doing?" Now she was standing directly in front of the bench, her hands on her hips as she glared at me.

As I looked down at her from my perch atop the bench, I realized I had two options: I could jump off this bench and make a run for it, trying to find Maddie before she found out. Or, I could do the responsible adult thing and tell her the truth.

"Nothing," I told her, before I jumped off the bench, leaving her frozen in place. If loosing Maddie hadn't sealed my death, then my previous action definitely had. I had to find Maddie.

Running down the hallways in search of either Maddie or a security person, people gave me stranger looks than they had when I was sitting on the bench. They probably thought their Pokemon Master had finally lost it.

"I think the training's finally gotten to him," I heard a group of people say as I ran past them.  
>"He was my favorite, too. What a shame," another person added.<p>

I skidded to a halt as I finally spotted a security desk, bending up over to catch my breath.

"Mr. Ketchum?" the police officer asked me, instantly recognizing me. "How can I help you?"

"My daughter...," I gasped between breaths. "My... daughter.. she's missing," I finally got out.

"Calm down, Mr. Ketchum. Don't worry, we'll find her," he assured me. "What's her name?" Seriously? Everyone knew her name. She was the daughter of the Pokemon Master.

"Maddie," I told him, despite the fact he should have already known.

"Okay. What was she wearing?" he asked me.

"Uh..." I was stumped. What had she been wearing? I never paid attention to that stuff.

"She's wearing a red shirt with a Pikachu on it, blue shorts, and red tennis shoes," I heard Misty say from behind me. Crap. She had found me... I was dead. "She was last in front of _Sunday's_ with my husband who was SUPPOSED to be watching her." Well, being Pokemon Master had been nice while it lasted.

"Of course, Ms. Ketchum. Don't worry. We've already closed the mall. Nobody's allowed in and nobody's allowed out. We have people searching for her this minute. We just need you to remain calm and stay here until we hear anything else," the man explained. "You can sit on that bench while you wait if you would like."

Without saying a word to me, Misty walked over to the bench and sat down, but not before giving me death glare. If looks could kill, I would have literally became ash. Not wanting to look like an idiot, I sat down next to her even though it was quite obvious I was not wanted.

"Misty, I'm sor-"

"Ash," she hissed, putting her hand in front of me to halt me. "Don't say a word." Obeying her wishes, I sat silently next to her while she tried to remain calm.

It seemed like ages had gone by as we waited to hear news about our daughter's whereabouts. I could sense getting Misty getting more and more worried as the time ticked on. I tried to comfort her by placing my hand on hers, but she just pulled hers away and glared at me. I don't think I had ever seen her this mad before. Although we were in a mall, I would have much preferred her yelling at me than the silent treatment she was giving me.

"Mr. and Ms. Ketchum?" the man called from his booth.

"Yes?" Misty asked, standing up and walking quickly over to the booth. I followed closely behind her, making sure to keep my distance.

"One of the workers found your daughter. He is bringing her over now."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Misty cried. Even though Maddie had been found, she still looked tense.

We waited for a while before we saw a man walk toward us, Maddie holding his hand and talking to him as if nothing had happened. When she saw us, though, she instantly let go and ran the rest of the way. I think I figured out how she got away so quickly. She was fast. "Mommy!" she yelled, running into Misty's waiting arms. I watched as Misty wrapped her arms around Maddie, probably afraid to let go.

"Thank you so much," Misty repeated, thanking the both the officer and the man who had found Maddie.

"You're very welcome, Ms. Ketchum, " the man replied.

"Where was she?" Misty asked.

"I found her in the toy store," the man reported. Ah! The toy store. I knew I should have looked there. Every little kid goes there. "She was running around the store with another kid. Although, they got into a little fight."

"A fight? Misty asked her. Since when did Maddie get into fights?

"Yeah!" she shouted. "The boy told me he was Team Rocket. He stole my Pikachu doll, Mommy! But I told him that if he didn't give it back, I was going to make him blast off just like Daddy always did to Team Rocket!" I loved that my daughter thought I was great, but this was taking it a bit too far. Now she was getting into fights.

"Maddie," Misty sighed. I saw her quickly glance my way, a look of death still on her face before she turned back towards an oblivious Maddie.

"Don't worry Mommy. I got back Pikachu." Oh thank goodness..

Without saying another word on the topic, Misty picked Maddie up and placed her back in the stroller before we left the mall.

Tired out from her adventure and fight, Maddie slept the whole way home. Misty on the other hand refused to say a word, looking straight ahead the entire time. Even when I tried to chat about something else, she just ignored me, sending a very clear message. How was I going to make this up to her? The answer: I wasn't ever going to be able to.

When we got home, she got out and grabbed Maddie, marching into the house without even seeing if I had gotten out. Afraid to go in, I slumped down in my seat and wished I could just melt into it, never to be seen again. Finally deciding to get out of the car, I shut the door behind me and walked inside. I figured Misty must have been putting Maddie down for her nap because I didn't see her. I doubted she would come back down, so I laid down on the couch, pulling my hat over my eyes. Why did things like this always happen to me? Why couldn't it have been Misty who she ran away from? No. Of course, it had to be me. It was always me.

"Here," I heard Misty say, as my thoughts were interrupted by a pillow and blanket being tossed in my direction. Not saying anything else, she walked back upstairs, making sure to slam our bedroom door loud enough for me to hear.

I knew this would eventually blow over, either because she would decide to forgive me or I would do something else to tick her off. Knowing me, though, it would most likely be the latter of the two. Until then, I might as well get used to the couch. Thankfully it was actually comfortable.


	3. The Dreaded Question

**_The Dreaded Question_**

MADDIE: AGE 4

"Daddy," I heard my daughter say my name as she walked into the kitchen. I was sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying a nice meal with my wife. "Where do babies come from?"

"What?" I asked, practically choking on my food. Misty who sat next to me had a similar reaction.

"Where to babies come from?" she repeated, her big brown eyes staring into my own, filled with curiosity. "I know they are in a mommy's tummy, but how do they get there?"

"You should ask your mom," I told her, directing the question toward Misty. "She knows a lot about that stuff."

Misty looked at me in surprise as the spotlight turned to her. The look of surprise quickly disappeared, as she looked at me with a big grin. "Oh no, dear. I would love to hear what you have to say. Wouldn't you, Maddie?"

"Mmhmm," my daughter replied.

"That's not fair, Misty," I sneered, glaring at her. This was the last thing I wanted to talk about with my daughter.

"Well," she pushed, continuing to stare at me with those big brown eyes of hers. She obviously wasn't going to let this go.

"Well," I sighed, giving in. "when a mommy and daddy love each other very much, they have this thing called-"

"ASH!" Misty yelled, horror on her face.

"That's what your mommy said when- OW!" I yelled in pain, as Misty's foot connected with my shin. "Jeez, Misty. I was kidding." I would never actually tell Maddie the truth. I wasn't an idiot. I was just trying to see how far I could push Misty before she gave in and answered the question on her own.

"Daddy," Maddie whined. "Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Okay. Here's the deal. When a mommy and daddy love each other very much they...they...make a wish. Yeah. A wish." I could see Misty using all her energy not to burst out laughing. She wasn't really helping me.

"Then what happens?" Maddie asked. Just to annoy me, Misty placed her elbows on the table and rested her head on them, looking like she was actually interested in what I was saying.

"Well...after a few weeks, Mommy buys a test that tells her if Mommy and Daddy's wish came true or not. If the wish comes true, then you have to wait a while before the baby is born, but you can use this special camera to see the baby," I told her.

"Oh," she said as if she understood it all.

Looking over to see Misty's reaction, I saw that she was shaking her head at me, snickering under her breath.

"Daddy?"

"Yes dear?"

"Can other people make the wish?"

"Uh. Yeah. So long as they are family members, but it doesn't always work as well," I explained.

"Okay," she said before bouncing out of the room to find something else to do.

"Very nice, Ketchum," Misty complimented me, wrapping her arms around me. "But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, it won't just be your shin that's in pain."

"Love you, too," I replied, turning around to kiss her.

"Daddy," I heard Maddie say. Great, she had come back. "That's yucky."

"What do you need Maddie?" I asked her, turning away from Misty.

"I came to tell you that I made a wish!" she explained as if it was the most exciting thing ever.

"You what?" Misty asked her, a bit confused.

"I made a wish," she repeated. "A wish for a baby sister or brother." Ugh. I knew she had an alterior motive for asking me.

"Oh." For once, Misty was speechless.

"So..." she trailed. "Is my wish going to come true?" she asked.

"Maddie, I don't-" Misty tried to tell her, stepping forward.

"BUT DADDY SAID!" she cried, tears starting to bubble to the surface of her eyes.

"Maddie," I cooed, picking her up in my arms. "What's wrong?"

"Mommy said my wish isn't going to come true," she whimpered.

"Not necessarily," I told her. Misty's snapped her head towards me, her eyes widening in shock.

"Really?" she awed.

"I'll see what I can do," I promised her. She smiled and gave me a hug before I set her down and she ran off again.

"What did you just promise our daughter?" Misty asked, anger rising in her voice.

"Nothing. I just told her I would see what I could do," I reminded her.

"And how exactly do you plan to 'see what you can do'," she asked, adding little air quotes.

"She's with Brock on Saturday and I don't have to work on Sunday," I whispered in her ear.

Her cheeks flushed red as she fumbled over her words. "Ash I don't..." she began as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back toward me.

As she tried to come up with something to say, I slipped my arms around her waist and kissed the exposed part of her neck. "But, Misty, I thought you loved making wishes." I reminded her.

"I hate you," she stated.

I just laughed at her knowing she didn't mean it. "You won't be saying that on Saturday," I snickered. And then I ran before she could process what I said.


	4. A Visitor In the Night

_**A Visitor In the Night**_

MADDIE: AGE 2 1/2

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep because of the horrendous storms that were taking place outside. Normally the storms weren't this bad in Pallet, but it was the springtime and we were somewhat by the ocean. Normally I didn't mind storms and would sit out on our patio and watch them. Tonight, however, I wanted sleep a whole lot more. It had been raining non-stop for about three days with on and off thunderstorms throughout the day. Naturally, they were always the worst at night when they affected my sleeping. Next to me, my husband was sleeping soundly, snoring a bit as he slept through the storm. I had never understood how he was such a heavy sleeper. I thought that he would eventually grow out of it, but apparently not. As I watched him sleep next to me, I envied him more than anytime in the world. I bet a tornado or hurricane could pass by and he wouldn't even know it.  
>Hoping that the comfort of my husband could help me sleep, I lifted up his arm and curled in close before laying his arm over me. I felt him unconsciously pull me closer, tightening his grip on me. After a few minutes, my eyelids began to get heavy and I found myself drifting off into a deep sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, though, I felt something poke my sides.<p>

"Stop it Ash. I'm trying to sleep," I mumbled, barely awake. I thought maybe he had started tossing and turning again. He never seemed to sleep in one place the whole night, ending up in a different place when he woke up. Feeling the poking again, I yelled at him again. "Ash, please stop."

Either completely oblivious to what I was saying or choosing to ignore me, he continued to hit my side. Giving up, I sat up a bit and turned around to face him. "Ash, wake up," I whispered, shaking him.

"Huh?" I heard him mumble as he started to wake up. He opened his eyes and looked around before he noticed me. "Oh, hey, Misty. What's up? Is something wrong?"

"You keep poking me in your sleep," I explained in annoyance.

"Misty, I'm doing anything," he said.

"How would you know?" I questioned him. "You were asleep." He didn't have very good evidence to back himself up.

"Because I'm in the same spot I fell asleep in. If I had been moving around again, I would have been somewhere else," he explained. Oh. Maybe he did have a point.

"Well, if it wasn't you, than who was it?" I asked more to myself than him.

"I think I know," he laughed as he nodded his head in the direction behind me. "We appear to have a visitor."

As I turned around, I saw my two and a half-year old daughter Maddie sitting on our bed. She sat there patiently waiting for one of us to say something to her. Just as I was about to ask her if she was okay, a big clap of thunder shook the whole house, sending Maddie flying under the covers in fright. That's why she was here. She was afraid of the storm.

"Maddie, it's okay sweetie. It's just a thunderstorm," I tried to comfort her. Despite my comforting words, she didn't budge from under the covers, instead crawling toward Ash.

"Maddie," Ash called, lifting up the covers to uncover our hiding daughter. "Are you okay?"

Instead of saying anything, she shook her head to indicate that she was not okay. Crawling toward her, I picked her up and set her on my lap where she buried her head in my arm when another clap of thunder shook the house. "What do we do?" I mouthed to Ash who was looking at Maddie, some worry showing on his face. I had never dealt with this before since my traveling had gotten me pretty used to be around thunderstorms. I don't think Ash knew what to do either, shrugging his shoulders as if to say, no clue.

"Maddie, you need to go back to your room. Would you like me or Daddy to take you back?" I asked her.

"No!" she yelled, little tears spilling down her cheek. I had never seen her this scared about anything before. "Storm scawry!" Hmm. What was I going to do now?

"Maddie, would you be okay if you slept in Mommy and Daddy's bed for the night?" Ash asked her, trying to come up with a solution. Finally unburying her head from my arm, she looked at him and nodded slowly, too scared to speak. "Okay, come here," Ash encouraged her, patting the space between us.

She slowly climbed out of my lap and into the space between us on the bed. Scooting toward Ash, she curled herself into a little ball, trying to get as close to him as she could. I myself scooted closer to her, trying to minimize the space between Ash and I to just her. Sensing Maddie's distress over the storm, I heard Pikachu move from his spot at the end of the bed to the little space in Maddie's arms where she quickly hugged him close to her body. Apparently in her trip to our room, she had forgotten her stuffed animal, Growlie.

"Thanks Pikachu," I thanked the little Pokemon.

Resting my head on my hand, I observed the peaceful scene before me. Ash was smiling lovingly at Maddie as he stroked her hair trying to calm her down, while an almost asleep Maddie hugged a sleeping Pikachu with all her might. Just for a second, I caught Ash's eyes while we shared a small smile. We weren't experts at this whole parenting thing by any means, but we must have been doing something right because here was our daughter laying between us still in one piece. As I glanced at my sleeping family one last time before going to sleep myself, I couldn't help but wonder, _how I had gotten so lucky? _


	5. An Artist In The Making

**_An Artist In the Making_**

MADDIE: Age 4**_  
><em>**

"Maddie! Hurry up or we're going to be late," I told my daughter as I grabbed the list I had made.

"Coming, Mommy!" She hopped down the steps two at a time before she reached the bottom and raced over to where I was at the front door. "I'm so excited!" she told me, grinning from ear to ear.

"I know you are," I replied. "That's why we need to get there soon so you have plenty of time." Picking her up, I placed her in her stroller and locked the front door.

"Where's Pikachu, Mommy?" Maddie asked me as she searched for the little mouse.

"He's with Daddy, silly. You know that." Sometimes I think my daughter had memory problems. Whenever Ash went to work, Pikachu always went with him. I had never known a day when that didn't occur.

"I silly!" she giggled from her stroller. "Just like Daddy." Yeah. Just like Ash.

Pushing Maddie's stroller, I made my way from our little house on the outskirts of Pallet to the famous lab of Professor Oak. Since he had retired a few years ago, though, the lab now belonged to Gary. I had promised Maddie that we could go to the lab today since I had to pick up a few things from the lab. Since Maddie was Ash in every way, she only went to the lab to play with the baby Pokemon. I had no doubt in my mind that she would one day become a trainer. When we reached the lab and conquered the stupid hill (I hated having to push the stroller up it. Normally Ash would do this, but today that was not an option) I pushed the stroller to the front door before I rang the doorbell.

"It's open!" I heard Gary yell from inside. Lifting the stroller up, I opened the door and walked in to the main lobby of the lab. The minute we were in the door, Maddie started squirming, anxious to get out of her stroller. I had learned that when she was this excited there would be no chance of her calming down, so I unbuckled her and let her out just as Gary walked into the lobby.

"Uncle Gary!" she cried, running to him.

"Hey there Maddie," he greeted her, kneeling down so he was on her level. "Are you excited to see the baby Pokemon?"

"YES! YES!" She jumped up and down, her ponytail bobbing up and down.

"Of course you are," he laughed, picking her up as he carried her to where the baby Pokemon were. Leaving the stroller by the front door, I followed them.

After making sure that Maddie was safe with the Pokemon, I followed Gary to his office right next door.

"So what's up, Red? What brings you here today aside from your mini Ash?" he asked, using the old nickname I despised.

"Can it Oak," I told him, still quick with a comeback. "I'm here to pick up some Pokemon food. Ash wrote down what he needed," I explained, handing him the list I had brought.

"Hmm...I see," he murmured to himself. "I'll get these and be right back. Try not to touch anything." He made sure to throw a smirk my way before he left with the list.

Ugh. I swear no matter how long it had been Gary Oak still ticked me off. He thought he was so great running a lab and doing research. I don't think he would ever lose that egotistical attitude of his either. At the same time, though, he was great with Maddie and he was her Uncle Gary. I still don't understand how that happened. Shortly, though, my thoughts were interrupted when Gary came back with the food.

"Here you go, Red," he said, handing me the pile of food. It was so heavy. How did Ash's Pokemon eat this much? I was going to have to talk to him about this later. Instead of offering to help me, he sat down and smirked at me some more. "So how have you been, Misty? I'm surprised you haven't lost it considering you basically live with two Ash Ketchums."

"Ha ha ha. Very funny, Gary. I'm doing perfectly okay, thank you very much. And they aren't as terrible as you think. It's the real one that causes the problems," I snapped.

"Oh really?" Folding his hands behind his head, he leaned back in his chair pretending to look interested. "What has Ashy boy done this time?"

"Well, if you really must know..." I sighed, figuring it would at least give me something to talk to him about. "...Last week Maddie walked into the kitchen and asked Ash where babies come from."

"Does Ash even know the answer to that question?" he teased. Even to this day, he loved teasing Ash.

"Whatever Gary. He almost told her the real thing. It was horrible." "What'd you do to him? Is he even still alive or are you buying this food to bury his body with?" Seriously Gary? What in the world?

"Uh.. no," I replied, giving him a strange look. "He actually came up with an amusing answer. She believed him, too."

"Oh." That silenced him.

For the next hour, we talked about his research, Ash's career, how Maddie was doing and various other topics. Of course Gary had to be Gary, throwing a few choice remarks of his own about how Ash should have used this Pokemon instead of that one, or how I was letting Ash raise a kid. I knew, though, that deep down, Gary knew Ash was a good dad.

"Well, I'm going to get Maddie and head out. Thanks again, Gary," I said, standing up to leave.

"Here, let me get Maddie and I'll have a Pokemon carrying the food to your house," he explained. Why hadn't he mentioned this earlier?

"Fine," I huffed, sitting back in my chair.

I waited in the chair while Gary went to collect my daughter, or more like pry her away from the baby Pokemon. I was always lucky if I got out of here without Maddie having a small fit about having to leave. At times like this, Gary would do nothing but stand by and laugh at my misery. Those were the times when I hated him the most.

"RED!" I heard him shout. "YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS!" What had happened? Racing to the room where Maddie was, I stopped at the door, my eyes widening at the scene before me.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Gary," I tried to apologize. As my eyes scanned the room before me, I saw the various drawings Maddie had covered the walls with. The worst part was that there was a trial that continued on through the other door. "I don't know how she got a marker. I never gave her one." I was lost.

"Look what your daughter did!" he shouted some more, gesturing to the paintings on the wall. "How am I supposed to get that off?"

"Uh.. clean it?" I suggested.

"You mean what you and Ash will be doing? Sounds like a plan," he snapped before walking through the other entrance to assess the damage.

I quickly followed him, groaning as the drawings increased in quantity. At this rate I would be spending a whole Saturday trying to remove these drawings. At least I might actually get to spend some quality time with Ash. As I reached the end of the hallway, I looked to my left to see Maddie sitting in front of a wall, painting away her masterpiece.

She must have heard us because she paused to look at us. "Look, Mommy!" she said, pointing to the picture she had just drawn.

Walking to where she was, I examined the picture trying to figure out what it was. Gary had also walked over to see the picture, although he didn't appear as intrigued. "What is it supposed to be Maddie?" I really tried, but I couldn't figure it out.

"That's you Mommy," she giggled. I could kind of see with her stick figure having red hair.

"What am I doing?" I asked her.

"You beating up Daddy. He make you mad. Grrr," she replied, trying to imitate me. Suddenly my face turned a dark shade of red as Maddie stood up and began imitating me. "Mommy angry Kangaskhan. She squish Daddy like little Caterpie. Daddy have no chance. He likes to take naps after, too." I can't believe she was doing this.

"I think she's really captured your personality, Red. I really like your picture Maddie," Gary commented, suddenly interested in Maddie's drawing. I can't believe she had just said that.

"Really Uncle Gary?" she inquired. I hated him so much.

"Yep. I think I might keep that one up. The others have to go, though."

"Okay." She at least seemed satisfied with one.

"Maddie, we're leaving," I mumbled, my face a dark shade of red. Grabbing the marker from her hand, I shoved it in Gary's hand and ran out of the lab as fast as I could, Maddie crying on my shoulder.

"I don't want to go, Mommy!" she wailed.

"Bye Maddie!" Gary waved at our retreating figure. "I bet your Daddy would love to see your drawing!" If I wasn't trying to escape the embarrassment my daughter had just put me through, I would have turned around and smacked him. "Don't forget you and Ash are still cleaning my lab! That is if Ash isn't sleeping."

It would be a while before I could face Gary Oak again.


	6. Things Are Going to Change

**_Things Are Going to Change_**

Crawling quietly out of bed, I tried not to wake my sleeping wife. As I got ready for work, I really tried not to be loud since I knew how Misty could be if she didn't get enough sleep. Tiptoeing into the kitchen, I fixed myself a bowl of cereal while setting a bowl of Pokechow for Pikachu. Since my job always forced me to have to get up early, I had slowly gotten used to eating breakfast by myself. I would have loved for Misty to be here with me in the morning, but I didn't blame her for not wanting to wake up at 6:30 every morning. I didn't particularly like it myself. Before Pikachu and I headed to work, I stuck a post-it-note on the fridge just to remind Misty how much I loved her. I knew it was cheesy, but I had learned over time that she loved the small things. Plus, leaving post-it-notes for each other had been a running gag between us since the day she pulled one of my fore head.

_LATER THAT DAY..._

"Misty! I'm home!" I shouted as I walked through the garage do

"In the kitchen," I heard her shout back. Following the small hallway that led to the kitchen, I found her sitting at the table looking over some papers. "Hey, Ash. How was work?"

"Boring as usual," I reported as I gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "Tons of paperwork and league complaints. Same old same old." It felt like everyday I went to work I had to fill out some paperwork about budgets or tournament rules or take care of complaints trainers sent it about certain gyms being to hard to beat. Usually, I would have to kindly write back to them how you can't expect to beat the Vermillion City Gym with the pokemon you just caught.

"Any Cerulean City complaints today?" Misty asked, inquiring about the gym she once ran.

"Not today. There was one yesterday from a kid who was mad because he felt the gym leaders were too distracting for male trainers," I explained to her.

"At least they won," Misty sighed, although not too happy about the complaint. Then I saw her look up, a menacing smile on her face. "Is that why you lost, Ash?"

"I'm not Brock, Misty. And I didn't lose. I won that battle fair and square," I argued back. Even 14 years later she still brought that battle up.

"Whatever Ash," she grumbled before returning to the papers she was examining before.

"What's for dinner?" I asked her. We both knew very well that I was a terrible cook.

"Hmmm," she thought, bouncing the pen she was holding against her chin. "I was going to make vegetable soup. With carrots!"

"Carrots?" I asked her extremely confused. "But Misty, you hate-" but I was cut off as I heard her gasp before she ran out of the kitchen with an, 'I'll be back later.' Had she finally lost it? Next she would be telling me she likes peppers and wants a bug Pokemon.

Since I was too hungry to wait for her to return –whenever that was-I made a PB&J sandwich. I could at least make that without potentially burning the house down. About 20 minutes later, though, I heard her run through the front door and up stairs, ignoring me when I tried to catch her attention. What exactly was going on with her? She was acting really strange. Deciding not to question her actions, I went and watched T.V until she chose to come back downstairs. Another 10 minutes went by until I finally decided that maybe I should go see if she was okay, Pikachu following me as I headed upstairs.

Figuring she might be in our room, I checked there first, finding her sitting on our bed with her back facing me. "Misty are you okay?" I asked her as I sat down next to her. She was in deep thought, staring at her hands in her lap. I tried to rack my brain for what it might be, but I couldn't think of anything involving carrots that would have made her this upset. "Misty?" I repeated, making sure she heard me.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted, breaking the unnerving silence. She looked at me, some tears threatening to fall from her eyes. It pained me to see her this upset, rarely ever seeing her cry. Before I could try and comfort her, though, her emotionless face broke out into a smile as she repeated her words. "I'm pregnant!" Unlike the first time she had said it, she was now beaming with happiness.

"A-ar-re you sure?" I asked her, stuttering over my words.

"Yes!" she confirmed, handing over the test she had been holding.

I looked at the test and saw the big plus sign that only confirmed Misty's thoughts. A baby? I could barely process the words. I had always wondered about having kids, but to be sitting here when I actually found out was completely different. "I'm going to be a dad?"

"PIKA?" Pikachu gasped, I think more shocked than I was.

"Hey," I chided him. He didn't have to go and pretend this was the biggest shock in the world. Misty just giggled as Pikachu teased me at my own expense.

"Yep," Misty smiled. "Little Ashy boy is going to be a daddy." She poked me as she teased me some more, unable to stop smiling.

Instead of cheering in happiness, I blurted out the first thing I thought off. "What if I suck?" I mean my own dad had sucked so maybe it ran in the family. Plus, since I was the Pokemon Master, I was going to be busy all the time. How was I supposed to make time for a brand new baby when I could barely make time for Misty and I?

"Ash," she giggled. I can't believe she was laughing, but I guess I should have expected that from her. "You're going to be a great dad."

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"Because you're a great person. You care about your family and friends and would do anything for them. And I know this baby will love you as much as I love you."

"But what if I screw up?" No matter what she said, I could still find an excuse.

"Then you're normal. All parents screw up. But you learn, Ash." She believed in me more than I believed in myself. "Plus, I have a feeling this baby is going to be just like you."

"What makes you think that?" How would she know?

"Because they say that when you're pregnant you crave what the baby likes, and I hate carrots."

"Ha ha. That would be great," I laughed. I could already imagine the endless amounts of cheeseburgers and pizza for lunch and dinner.

"I don't know about that," she teased. "But none the less, I know we can do this. And we'll have tons of people to help us out along the way."

I guess she was right. I knew my mom would fuss over helping with her first grandchild, and Brock would be so excited to take care of a little Ash and Misty. It would be like taking care of us all over again.

"I bet it's a girl," I heard her say.

"Nah. I bet it's a boy," I stated.

"Girl," she argued back.

"Boy!"

"Girl!"

"Boy!"

"You wanna make this a bet, Ketchum?" she challenged. I always loved when she called me Ketchum. It made me feel like we were kids again arguing about being lost.

"You're on, Mist!" I was going to win this bet. If the baby was already like me, then it was definitely a boy.

"Winner gets to name the baby?"

"Deal," I agreed, shaking her hand to seal it. "I can't wait to meet Red."

"RED?" she growled. She was going to kill me. "You're going to name our child RED?"

"Yep," I beamed. Of course I was kidding. I wasn't going to tell her that, though.

"Hmp," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Well I can't wait to meet ASHLEY." She smiled proudly at her comeback. Whatever. I knew she was kidding.

"So how long do we have to wait to see who won?" I asked

"Well, about 7 more months," Misty reported, placing her hands on her now flat belly.

"Well you better hurry up," I told her stomach. "I don't think I'm going to be able to handle your mom like this for 7 more months. I've heard how woman can be when they're pregnant."

"Pika," Pikachu stated in agreement. At least now he was on my side.

"ASH!" she gasped, smacking me lightly on the shoulder. Of course she wouldn't DARE hit Pikachu.

"I'm serious. Don't be surprised if your daddy looks like he got beat up or is passed out when you're born."

"Is that what you really think of me?" Misty pouted.

"Of course not," I lied. Seriously though? A hormonal and pregnant Misty was going to be like an angry Misty on steroids. The next 7 months were going to be you know what. Even Pikachu could sense it, jumping off the bed before he scampered away to probably go hide somewhere for the next seven months. If I was going to need him for battles, I was going to need a lot of ketchup to get him to come out from hiding. This was going to be a lot more expensive than I had thought.


	7. I Think One's Enough

**_I Think One's Enough_**

MADDIE: AGE 6**_  
><em>**

"Hey there, Brock! Come on in," I told our best friend as he walked through the front door. Having the day off from work and nothing else to do, he had stopped by to spend a few hours with us.

'UNCLE BROCK!" I heard my daughter yell as she ran down the hallway at a lightening pace.

"Hey there, Maddie," Brock greeted her when he picked her up. "How have you been? I swear you get bigger each time I see you. How old are you now? 9?"

"6," she told him, trying to count six fingers on her hand.

"That big huh?" he teased before setting her back down. She didn't budge from his side, though.

Maddie always loved when Brock would stop by as he was one of her most favorite people in the world. I had always known Brock to be good with kids, as he basically took care of Ash and I on our own journey, but he seemed to be exceptionally good with Maddie.

"So what's your secret, Brock? I asked him when Maddie ran off to get something she wanted to show him.

"For what?" he asked a bit confused.

"How are you so great with Maddie?" I clarified.

"Oh that? That's easy. Years of practice," he explained.

"From raising your siblings?"

"Well, yeah, that too. But I was talking about the years I spent taking care of you and Ash. Watching Maddie's just like taking care of you two put together, but with less arguing. Just like Ash, if you mention Pokemon you got her attention, where as just like you, if you mention going swimming, you become her best friend."

"Ha ha. Very funny," I said sarcastically.

"Speaking of which, where is Ash?"

"He had to run to the office to grab something. He should be back any minute now. We can go wait in the kitchen if you would like," I suggested.

Nodding in agreement, Brock and I walked in the kitchen where I poured us some tea before sitting down at the table to wait for Ash or Maddie-whoever arrived first. Shortly, though, we heard the door to the garage open as Maddie came running into the kitchen with whatever she had wanted to show Brock.

"In the kitchen," I yelled to Ash.

"Hey Brock," he greeted Brock as he walked into the kitchen, sitting down in an empty chair. "What's up?"

"Maddie was going to show me something," Brock explained, acknowledging the anxious Maddie.

"Oh really?" Ash asked.

"Yep!" Maddie confirmed, handing Brock a picture frame. "Grandma gave it to me," she explained.

For Maddie's birthday, Delia had gotten her a framed picture of me, Ash and Brock when were little. Maddie had demanded it be set on her dresser so that she could always see it when she went to bed.

"Man is this old," Brock commented, observing the picture from almost eighteen years ago. "This is very nice Maddie. Thank you for showing me." He handed her back the picture before she climbed onto a chair and set it on the table. "So what's been going on around here lately?"

"You mean with Mommy and Daddy or me?"

"How about Mommy and Daddy. You always seem to have good stuff to share." What has Maddie been telling Brock that he would call 'good stuff"?

"Well," she began, leaning on the table so she could get closer to him. "They've been making wishes." Oh no. A previously uninvolved Ash was now awake and alert.

"Still?" Brock commented. Take that back Brock. "Your Mommy and Daddy used to make wishes all the time while we were traveling.

"Really?" she wondered. "Did they lock you out of their room, too?" In normal instances, Maddie's innocent curiosity would have been seen as adorable, but right now, I would pay anything to have her stop talking.

"Maddie," Ash groaned from across the table. "Stop talking." But it was too late. Her and Brock were no longer on the same page.

"Lock the door?" Brock asked, not following anymore. "No."

"Oh. Well that's what they have done to me a few times," she whined. "But I guess it's okay because guess what Uncle Brock?"

"What?"

"Their wish came true! Isn't that exciting?" She was beaming as she stood on the chair, arms spread out wide.

Unlike our gleeful daughter, Ash and I were not smiling, our faces bright red and on fire.

"Maddie Claire Ketchum, get down now. You're going to hurt yourself," Ash chastised her. Having Maddie around had started to make him realize all the stupid things he had done as a kid.

"Fine," she huffed, sitting back down on the chair.

"What was their wish Maddie?" Brock asked. Please don't answer that Maddie. Please don't answer that.

"You don't know?" she asked, now the confused one.

"No," he replied, shaking his head.

"Oh. Well, Daddy says that if a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much they make a wish. Then Mommy takes a test that tells her if the wish came true. And there's this special camera." Only my daughter could manage to explain what 'making a wish' was without mentioning the key word that would clarify everything.

"I still don't understand what the wish is, though." Why couldn't Brock have just given up on understanding?

"A BABY!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the kitchen. "They locked me out of their room so they could make a wish for a baby." Losing all hope, Ash smacked his head against the table with a 'Maddie', refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Why did she have to have a big mouth like her father?

"Oh." I don't think Brock knew how to respond.

"Maddie, can you go upstairs and get changed?" I suggested. "We're going to Grandma's for dinner tonight, remember?"

"But I'm already dressed," she argued.

"Maddie."

"Fine," she grumbled, marching out of the kitchen and up the steps.

When she was out of earshot, Brock being Brock, turned the conversation back toward us. "Wait, 'making a wish' is now doing it?" Did he have to phrase it like that?

"Yes. To her it is," Ash sighed, finally looking up. "And thank you for telling her that we used to do it all the time as kids. I can't wait until she lets that one slip. Knowing my luck, my mom will be the one she tells. You know how much she's going to freak out on me?" I had never thought about that. If Delia thought Ash and I had been hooking up long before we even dated or got married she would flip out.

"Sorry," Brock apologized, scratching his the back of his head with his hand like Ash always did. "But in my defense, I didn't know exactly what she was talking about. You two might want to let others know how you decided to explain where babies come from to your daughter."

"She was 4 when we explained it. I didn't think she'd actually remember," Ash argued back.

"Well, guess what? She did," I added sarcastically. She remembered all right.

"Well if the wish came true, I guess a congratulations is in order."

"Thank you," I responded, although I hadn't planned on him finding out this way.

"You ready for another one Ash?" Brock teased.

"I thought I was. But Maddie seems to always surprise me."

"I just hope this next one is more like me. Then we wouldn't have so many problems like this," I commented.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Ash questioned.

"Exactly what it means. She has a big mouth like you."

"I do not," he tried to defend himself.

"Do, too!"

"Do, not!"

"HEY!" Brock yelled. "How are you two going to raise another kid if you continuously act like one?" he sighed.

"I don't know," Ash shrugged. "Maddie turned out fine."

"Mmhmm," I agreed. Things had gone a lot better than I had originally thought.

"I guess." We sat there in silence for a few seconds before Brock had to make another stupid comment. "So, how often does Maddie get locked out, huh?"

"Brock!" I yelled, smacking his arm. "Don't make this day any worse than it's turning out to be."

"Oh, Misty. I'm just teasing." I just grumbled and rested my head on the table. This was not how I had thought my day was going to turn out. I imagined, too that if Ash knew what was going to take place when he got home, he would have stayed at work and let me face the embarrassment our daughter had caused us. In the silence that followed, we heard Maddie's voice flow into the kitchen from the hallway where she was talking on the phone.

"Oh, they're busy talking to Uncle Brock about Daddy and Mommy making wishes," Maddie explained to whoever she was talking to. "That means they are wishing for a baby! Did you know they have been making wishes since they started traveling? I didn't." This day could get worse.

"ASHTON SATOSHI KETCHUM!" we heard Delia's voice burst through the whole house.

"I hate kids," Ash commented before going to face his very angry mother. "Do they have a refund policy on them?"

"ASH!" As angry as I tried to sound, I had to admit that didn't sound so much like a bad idea right now.

I just prayed that this next baby wasn't this troublesome, or Ash and I would have to be very careful with what we said.

"Here," I heard Maddie tell Ash in a very cheerful voice. "Grandma says you're in big trouble."

"Thanks Maddie." I can assure you that it was all sarcasm in that thank you.

It was going to be an interesting dinner tonight.


	8. We Meet Again

_**We Meet Again**_

MADDIE: AGE 5

It was a lovely spring day when Ash and I decided to take Maddie for a little picnic in the forest of all places. I had tried to convince Ash that he needed to pick a different spot; preferably one with less bugs. He said not to worry and that it would be totally fine. Not wanting to upset our daughter, I went anyway, knowing that Ash and Pikachu would be there to protect me if anything happened. On our way to the edge of the forest, Ash carried Maddie on his shoulders while Pikachu hitched a ride on mine. I was thankful that it had finally cleared up after all the storms we had been having, making this the perfect day for a picnic. With Ash's work having increased the past few months, we didn't always get to have this family time.

We finally settled on a nice spot of grass in front of a notorious river that still flowed almost 20 years later. Had it really been that long? Setting down our picnic basket, I pulled out the blanket we had brought and laid it on the grass, marking our spot. Next, before I could open the lid to the picnic basket, a very hungry Ash and Maddie started pulling out the sandwiches I had made. By request of them we were having PB&J, a recent favorite of the two. I didn't mind, though, considering it was easy to make. The only problem was the quantity of sandwiches I had to make. I myself didn't eat much, but I couldn't say the same for my husband and daughter. After they had grabbed the majority of the sandwiches and drinks, I managed to find myself an intact sandwich and juice box in the bottom of the basket.

"These are really good, Mommy!" my daughter complimented between bites.

"Maddie. Chew with your mouth closed," I reminded her.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked. Shoot! I had forgotten to get him some food. I had assumed that Ash would, but in his rush to get food for himself, he must have forgotten.

"I'm sorry. Here you go, Pikachu," I said handing the Pokemon a bowl of Pokechow and a packet of ketchup. It was a special occasion, so Pikachu was allowed to eat ketchup.

As we sat around the picnic blanket enjoying our food, we chatted a bit about various things. I unfortunately wasn't able to get much of a word in when Maddie started asking Ash about his Pokemon battles. Once they started talking about that, it was almost impossible to try and talk to them.

'PIKA!" I heard Pikachu cry. Turning around, I saw him get carried away by a giant robotic hand.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled, jumping up and running toward the direction Pikachu had went. Before she could chase after him, I picked Maddie up and rushed to his side.

"HA HA HA HA!" I heard what I thought to be long gone voice crackle. "We finally caught Pikachu!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash and I both yelled. I really thought they were long gone by now.

"Hello Twerp and Twerpet," Jessie greeted us. She looked much older now, signs of aging showing on her face. "You better prepare for trouble!"

"Ooooo," James cooed. "Look, Jessie. It appears as if our lovebirds finally got married. And I see we have a baby twerp amongst us. How adorable."

"I knew dat was true love from da start," Meowth commented.

"Mommy," Maddie whispered. "I thought Pokemon couldn't talk?"

"He's a special case," I told her. I didn't really know how to explain Mewoth otherwise.

"James!" Jessie barked. "The motto!"

"Oh, right!" he remembered. "Make it double!"

"I want down Mommy!" Maddie yelled, fighting to get out of my arms. Unable to hold her, I gave in and set her down.

"To protect world from devastation!" Jessie shouted

"To unite all peoples within our nation!" James replied.

"ASH! GET MADDIE!" I called to my husband as I watched my daughter run closer to Team Rocket's Machine. Not hearing me in time, he was unable to catch Maddie before she slipped past him.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our-"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!" Maddie called back.

For once, Team Rocket stopped in the middle of their motto, baffled by what Maddie had just said.

"Jessie?"

"James?"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Maddie continued for them "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth finished for them, totally oblivious to what had just happened.

"Aww," Jessie cooed, clasping her hands together. "You taught the baby twerp our motto. Isn't that just adorable, James?"

"I always knew they loved it. They just didn't want to admit it," James commented. Ugh. I couldn't stand that motto, and I had been royally ticked when Ash had taught Maddie it. I hope he was happy with what he had just caused.

"What's your name baby twerp?"

"Maddie!" she told them. I really needed to talk to my daughter about not revealing her identity to villains.

"I love it," Jessie cooed some more. "Would you like to join Team Rocket with us Maddie? You just do the motto so well. It would be a shame to waste such talent." Were they seriously trying to convince my daughter to join Team Rocket?

"NO!" Maddie shouted. "I'm going to make you blast off Team Rocket!" she yelled back at them.

"Huh?" Jessie asked, her expression changing from one of glee to repulsion. "Hey you little brat! Team Rocket happens to be a very successful organization. You should be honored we asked you to join." At least their personalities hadn't changed.

"I knew it was too good to be true," James commented. "She's 100% twerp."

"Well she's not going to stop us from taking Pikachu." And with that they started up their hot air balloon and started to fly away.

Snatching up Maddie before she could chase after them, Ash chased the balloon while trying to pull a Pokeball out at the same time. "I choose you Swello! Pop that balloon!"

The bird pokemon soared high in the sky before its sharp beak popped Team Rocket's giant Meowth balloon. I was actually surprised how easy it was to pop the balloon considering Team Rocket usually made their machines resistant against all of Ash's Pokemon. The balloon quickly deflated and began falling to the ground at a growing pace. As it hit the ground, the mechanic arm broke apart, setting Pikachu free. Taking his moment of opportunity, Pikachu ran away and back toward us.

"Put me down, Daddy!" Maddie demanded. Maybe since he was stronger than I was, he would be able to hold on to her.

"Maddie, you have to stay here. You can't run off," Ash instructed her.

"But I want down," she wined.

"No Maddie. It's too dangerous."

Despite the fact that there hot air balloon was grounded, they refused to give up, sending out their two Pokemon. What Team Rocket hadn't taken into account, was that Ash's Pikachu was much stronger than when they used to battle him.

"Pikachu!" Ash commanded, pointing his finger toward Team Rocket.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Maddie finished for him. The look on Team Rocket's face was priceless as Pikachu's Thunderbolt lit up the sky, sending them blasting off again.

"Bye bye!" Maddie said, waving at the now long gone Team Rocket. "I did it Daddy! I made Team Rocket blast off. Just like you!"

Setting her down now that it was safe, Ash knelt down in front of Maddie so he was equal to her height. "That's great, Maddie. But you can't run off like that. You really scared Mommy and Daddy. We were worried something bad would happen to you," Ash lectured her just like a dad would.

"I'm sorry Daddy," she apologized. Where was my apology?

"We're just glad you're safe. Now make sure you tell Mommy you are sorry, too. I bet she was really scared." It was as if he could read my mind.

Peeking over Ash's shoulder to look at me, she started to walk over before she stopped in front of me. "I'm sorry Mommy. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm just glad you're okay," I told her, crouching down to give her a hug. Although I knew deep down that she was probably going to be okay, there was that one moment of panic. "How about we finish our picnic at home?" Somewhere safe that provided little chance of running into Team Rocket.

"Okay."

Cleaning up the picnic basket and the remaining food, I picked it up and headed back home with Ash, Maddie and Pikachu following behind. As I was walking down the path, though, I couldn't help think, _why me?_


	9. And Baby Makes Four

_**And Baby Makes Four**_

MADDIE: AGE 6 1/2_**  
><strong>_

I had been peacefully sleeping when I was awoken by a sharp jab in my right side. Shooting up, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness before I looked around the room to see what had caused my pain. When I looked to my right, I saw Misty's face inches away from my own.

"Ash!" she hissed. "I think the baby's coming."

"What?" I asked, barely awake enough to process anything.

"The baby!" she hissed.

"OH!" I exclaimed, jumping out of bed. Now I was awake.

Rushing to the other side of the bed, I helped her up and onto her feet. I tried to offer to help her downstairs, but Misty being Misty, told me she was fine and to instead go get our daughter Maddie. I knew better than to fight Misty's pride, so with one last look to make sure she was really okay, I walked down the hall and into our daughter's room. She was sound asleep, undisturbed by what was going on. Pulling the covers off of her, I tried my best to pick her up without waking her up. It was a lot harder than I thought to get her out of the bed because she had a tight grip on her covers. Thankfully, I was able to quickly replace the cover with her stuffed Growlithe. Carrying Maddie in my arms, I checked to see if Misty was still in our room before heading downstairs to get the car ready and call my mom and Brock.

When I got to the hallway, Misty was already on the phone with my mom explaining everything that was going on. I guess she was doing okay. While Misty called Brock, I headed to the car so I could put Maddie in her car seat. With Maddie safely tucked away, I walked back into the house to grab Pikachu and the bag we had prepared for when this happened. Misty was already in the car when I returned, so I just threw the bag in the back seat and started driving to the hospital.

As soon as we got there, they rushed Misty to a room while I stayed back to wait on Brock or my mom so they could take Maddie for me. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long with my mom showing up almost instantly. At this point in time, Maddie had decided to wake up.

"Daddy don't leave me," she begged. I felt bad having to leave her in the lobby, but I couldn't take her in the room with me. Plus, Pikachu, Brock and my mom would be with her the whole time.

"Daddy will be right back," I told her, kissing her on the forehead before I rushed after the doctors.

"Daddy!" I heard her wail, fighting to get loose. "I want my Daddy!" I could hear my mom trying to calm her down, saying things like, 'don't worry' or 'Daddy will be right back' before I disappeared behind the double doors.

After hours of waiting and being yelled at for putting ideas in our daughter's head, (Misty was still mad at me for telling Maddie I would see what I could do about getting her a sibling) I was finally able to head back to the lobby to share the good news. When I arrived in the lobby, though, all I saw was my mom and Pikachu.

"Where's Maddie and Brock?" I asked.

"Maddie was getting really antsy so Brock took her for a walk. They should be back any minute now."

"Okay."

"Sooo," she pushed. "Do I have a new grandson or granddaughter?" My mom was so excited she could barely contain herself.

"A grandson," I reported.

"Aww. What's his name?" she cooed in that motherly voice.

"Noah Ryan Ketchum."

"I love it." So did I.

"DADDY!" I heard Maddie yell as she raced toward me. "You're back! I missid you so much."

"I missed you, too Maddie. Would you like to meet your new baby brother?"

"Yes!" she nodded eagerly. Scooping her up in my arms, I led us to Misty's room.

When we reached the room, I set Maddie down so she could go see Noah. At first she stood in front of me refusing to get closer, but after some reassuring words from Misty, she walked up to the bed where I picked her up and set her down next to Misty. Even though, Noah was barely an hour old, you could already kind of see the resemblance between him and Maddie. Despite Misty's hopes of having another red head in the family, Noah's little head had small pieces of black hair, but unlike Maddie, he had Misty's green eyes.

I watched as Maddie observed the new baby, appearing to take in every little detail from the shape of his nose to his tiny toes. She had never really seen a baby before, so this was a whole new experience for her. For the rest of the day, everyone took turns holding Noah, with Misty's sisters showing up later. After everyone left, I finally got to hold Noah for the first time. With Maddie and Misty next to me sleeping soundly in the hospital bed, I sat in the chair next to them and observed my new son with curiosity. I wondered what he would be like and how him and Maddie would differ in personality. He already showed more evidence than Maddie had of being like Misty, so I couldn't help but wonder if he would get her fiery temper as well. Although this was our second child, it was our first son, giving Misty and I a whole new experience of raising a kid.

_Weeks Later_

The weeks that followed weren't as bad as when we first had Maddie, but they weren't ideal either. We had many restless nights where we would have to wake up in the middle of the night to feed Noah or change him to try and get him to fall asleep. I had forgotten what it was like to feel so tired in the morning, once again becoming dependent on coffee and caffeine to stay awake. As I quickly learned in the weeks following Noah's birth, things were much harder with two kids of very different ages and energy levels.

I had just finally gotten Noah back to sleep and was heading back to take a nap when Maddie stopped me in the hallway.

"Daddy?" she asked. "Can you play this game with me?" She held up one of those little kid board games where you rolled the dice to see how many spaces you could move.

"Maybe later, Maddie. Daddy's really sleepy."

"Please," she begged.

"Maddie no. I'll play with you later." I hated telling her no, but I couldn't stay awake.

"Where's Mommy?" she asked giving up.

"She's at the store," I told her.

"What store?" She asked. AGH! Why did she always ask so many questions?

"The baby store," I told her. Misty had run to get some more stuff for Noah.

"How about you go play with Pikachu while Daddy naps. After that we can play a game, okay? And make sure to be quiet do you don't wake up your brother."

"Okay," she sighed before walking back to her room.

Positive she wasn't going to come back, I walked back into our bedroom and set my alarm for an hour. That's all I wanted. Just one hour of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep. But why would anyone grant me that?

Sometime in the middle of my nap, I was awoken by Noah's crying again. Fighting to keep my eyes open, I slowly walked out of the room to go check on him. I didn't make it to his room however, being stopped in the middle of the hallway by the sight before me.

As I surveyed the scene in front of me, my eyes widened in both shock, fear, and panic. "MADELINE CLAIRE KETCHUM! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled at my daughter. She was sitting near the top of the steps holding a newborn baby Noah. What had me the most interested was how she had even gotten him out of the crib in the first place. One glance through the door to Noah's room quickly answered that question as I saw a chair sitting in front of his crib.

"Taking Noah to the baby store," she told me as if it was that obvious. "I don't want him anymore so I am going to have Mommy return him." Where did she come up with this stuff? And with that she started scooting down the steps, bouncing a bit as she landed on each one.

Just as she was nearing the middle of the stairs, I heard a crash from downstairs followed by a gasp. "MADDIE!" I heard Misty shriek. I hadn't even heard her come in.

"Mommy!" Maddie greeted Misty, trying to stand up.

Before something terrible happened to Noah-such as Maddie dropping him while she tried to walk down the steps- Misty raced up the steps and snatched Noah from Maddie's arms.

"I was returning him to the baby store, Mommy. I don't want him anymore."

Not saying a word, Misty just glared at Maddie. Still raging with hormones and running on lack of sleep, Maddie had just made the biggest mistakes by angering Misty. Since Misty wasn't saying anything, it became my job to address the situation at hand.

"Maddie. Go to your room now," I instructed, my lack-of-sleep making me even angrier.

"But Mommy's home now. We can play a game."

Just then, with his oh so impeccable timing, I saw Brock appear at the bottom of the steps. In my lack of sleep I had forgotten that he was coming by to drop off some stuff. "Hey, guys," he greeted us. "Is this a bad time? If so, I can come back later. "

"Uncle Brock!" Maddie beamed, standing up to so she could go see him. Before she could walk any further, though, I caught her.

"_Madeline_," I said a bit more forcefully.

"No."

"1...2...3," I started counting.

"NO!" she yelled again, only a lot louder. What was up with her?

"MADDIE!" I yelled, my voice bouncing off the walls. "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

"NO!" she yelled again.

Refusing to argue with her anymore, I picked her up and carried her to her room. It felt like I was dragging her to her room because she was kicking and screaming the whole 10 ft there. Over the years I had learned to grow more patient, but I had had it with Maddie today. Ever since the second week of having Noah, she had been misbehaving left and right. Thankfully, as I carried Maddie to her room, Brock had not said a word. Once I had finally gotten her in her room, I carried her to her bed where I sat her down.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING MADDIE?" I asked her, the fear of seeing a potential disaster causing my adrenaline to rush through me.

"I told you Daddy," she whimpered. She had started crying, but I knew better than to fall for that.

"YOU DON'T DO STUFF LIKE THAT MADDIE! YOU'RE NOT A BABY ANYMORE. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT!"

"But I don't want him anymore," she sobbed.

"Well I'm sorry Maddie, but he's not going anywhere." Why she hated him so much I didn't understand.

"I hate you!" she yelled before kicking me in the shin. Hard.

"YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" I reprimanded her, catching her little hand in mid air as she tried to hit me. I was now staring to see some signs of her previously hidden Misty traits.

"I hate you," she repeated. It took me a minute to register what she had said because I had never heard her say it before.

"Maddie, I'm placing you in time out. You are not to come out of this room, you hear me? If you do then you'll just come back right here. And I don't care if you hate me." Leaving her on her bed, I left the room, shutting the door behind me, and headed back downstairs.

I found Misty and Brock sitting in the kitchen talking as a somewhat awake Noah sat in his rocker next to Misty. "I'm sorry Misty. If I had known she was going to do that," I apologized as I collapsed in the chair next to him. I hated being this tired.

"It's not your fault Ash. Nobody saw that coming. I'm just worried about her now."

"Yeah, me, too," I agreed. "She hates me now, though. Kicked me and then tried to hit me, too. She may just be your daughter after all, Misty."

"Ash, she doesn't hate you. And you did the right thing." Normally I never yelled at Maddie like I had earlier. I had always hated punishing her because I never liked being the bad guy in a situation. I was more for trying to find a solution that made everyone happy. For once, though, I wasn't able to do that. Maddie had done something extremely dangerous and I knew I couldn't let it slide; I had to be the bad guy this time.

"She's right, Ash," Brock agreed.

"She's never said she's hated me before." I believed her when she told me she hated me. Ever since then it had been bothering me because I had always thought I was the least likely to be the one she ever said that to. She had proven me wrong, though. "Was I too hard on her?"

"Absolutely not," Misty stated. "I'm telling you, Ash. You did the right thing. Maddie needed to be yelled at. She needs to understand the seriousness of what she did."

"I just," I sighed, unable to think of what to say next.

"Look at it this way," Brock started to explain. "Maddie's like Misty was when you and her were kids." Despite angry glares from Misty, he continued on. "Maddie has learned-probably from Misty and watching how you react to things-what bothers you the most. Basically, she knows how to push your buttons. As a kid, Misty knew she could get to you by attacking your trainer skills and your dream. Maddie's learned that she can get to you by attacking her relationship with you. If she can convince you that she hates you, then she's gotten to you." In a weird way, I guess it kind of made sense.

"But why does she hate me?" I asked.

"I think I know. Let me go talk to her." Not bothering to listen to any protests, Brock walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to Maddie's room.

I don't know why, but the minute he left I felt this streak of jealousy run through me. How come Brock could always take care of Maddie better than I could? She was my daughter and not his. Something would always go wrong and I would have no idea why Maddie was acting the way she was, and then Brock would always show up and magically fix everything. Then of course, Misty would thank him and ask him what his secret was.

"He makes me feel like a failure," I complained.

"Who?" Misty asked.

"Brock. He makes me feel like such a failure. I can't get Maddie to say anything to me, yet he can walk in and make everything magically better."

"Oh, Ash," she frowned at me. I didn't want her to pity me. "You're not a failure. Maddie loves you a lot more than you think."

"But how come he can always fix everything and I can't?"

"Well, Brock has had more experience raising kids than you have. But that's not important. What's important is that you and Maddie love each other equally and nothing you do or say will change that. Look at it this way Ash. When you always had problems with your mom or were mad at her because you got in trouble, did you go directly to her? Or did you go talk to someone else?"

"Someone else," I grumbled. I hated when she made sense.

"Exactly. Brock is Maddie's someone else that she can talk to about any problems she is having with her parents. If she talked to us we might get offended too quickly and not be able to completely understand her. By talking to Brock, she can get unbiased ideas."

"I hate when you're right."

"I don't' know. I love it," she teased. "But like I said. You're an awesome dad and no matter what she says, Maddie loves you. In case you've forgotten, you're her hero Ash."

"I am aren't I?" I beamed with pride. I was and always would be my Maddie's hero.

"Yes you are. But it was probably best for Maddie to see today that her hero isn't always a big softie."

"Whatever."

As we were finishing up our discussion, I heard Brock come walking into the kitchen.

"How is she?" I asked.

"She's still mad, but I think I figured out why she wanted to take Noah back to the baby store," he told us.

"Oh yeah. Return him to the baby store. How does she come up with this stuff?"

"She either has quite the imagination, or she lacks an understanding of things just like some dense trainer I know," Misty remarked.

"Hey," I snapped. "That's not funny."

"Anyways," Brock's voice arched over ours. "Maddie's just going through a phase that most kids her age go through when a new sibling arrives. Ash you wouldn't understand because you were an only child, and Misty you were the baby. She's mad because she's not longer the baby who gets all the attention from her parents. I'm guessing with Noah you two don't have as much time to spend with her as you did before. She's noticed this and has placed the cause of this on Noah's arrival. In order to get your attention like she wants, she acts badly or like a baby. Also, since she's placed the cause of all this on Noah's arrival, she wants to return him so she can get her Mommy and Daddy all to herself again."

"You should be a child psychologist, Brock," Misty stated.

"I don't know about that," he blushed, scratching the back of his head. "I acted the same way when my brother was born and I watched all my siblings go through it, too. It just seemed to be the most logical explanation for her behavior. And it would make sense why you two didn't pick up on it. You've never been through it."

"Is it like this forever?" I asked. I would go crazy if it was.

"Oh, no. She'll eventually grow out of it. It will go a lot faster if you show her that just because Noah's here doesn't mean you don't want to spend time with her. You just have to try to make her understand that you are busy, and maybe spend some time with her where it's just the three of you. You could have her help out taking care of Noah, too. I'm sure she would love that."

"Oh. Okay," Misty understood.

"Yep. Well I have to get back before Suzie gets home. Good luck with Maddie," Brock said before he turned around to leave.

When he left, it became a lot quieter now that we had a sleeping baby and two extremely tired adults. As I glanced up toward the stairs, I couldn't help wonder if I should go check on Maddie and maybe apologize for yelling at her. Now that I understood why she was acting the way she was it was easier to have pity on her.

"She's fine," Misty said, reading my mind. "Just let her cool down a bit. Then you and I can go talk to her."

"Okay," I sighed, finally giving in.

Picking up Noah out of his rocker, I carried him back upstairs to his crib, making sure to shut the door when he left. Sliding down the wall, I took a deep breath as I rested my head in my hands. As I looked up and stared at Maddie's closed door, it took every fiber of my being not to stand up and go in there. I just didn't understand how she could hate me. I thought I was doing everything right-or at least, as close to right as I could. What did this mean when she got older and I had to worry about things like her going on her own journey and her meeting boys? If she hated me then, there was no way I could protect her from boys like-oh god- like Brock. Or Gary. Or me for that matter. Maybe, though, just maybe, I was getting ahead of myself. I had at least 10 years until I had to worry about that. For now I would just worry about the 6 year old Maddie who just hated her Daddy because he had actually punished her. Maybe it would become easier to do over time, but who knew?

"Daddy?" I heard Maddie's voice coming from in front of me. Taking my head out of my hands I looked up, our matching chocolate brown eyes meeting. "I'm sorry for what I said. I don't hate you. I love you lots."

Then and there it didn't matter what Misty had said. At the sound of Maddie's words, I melted like the big softie I was underneath, instantly forgiving her for ever hating me. "I love you too Maddie," I told her, bringing her close for a hug. For now, she was still my little girl who thought boys had cooties.


	10. Birthday Adventures

**_Birthday Adventures_**

MADDIE: AGE 6 1/2

NOAH: AGE 10 MONTHS

"Come on Maddie. We have to go before the store closes," I hollered upstairs to my daughter as I grabbed my car keys off the hook.

"Where are we going Daddy?" she asked, appearing at the bottom of the steps.

"We have to go get Mommy a birthday present, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Misty's birthday was today, and as usual, I had waited until the absolute last minute to take the kids to get her a present. At the rate things were going, though, I didn't think we would make it to the store in time.

"Maddie let's go," I ushered her through the door, unlocking the car and shutting the garage door behind me.

Once her and Noah were strapped into their car seats, we headed to the mall in search of a gift for Misty. Despite my late planning, I had somehow found time to go get a present from myself earlier in the week. It was taking the kids that I had put off, and for very valid reasons. The main one being that my children fought more than Misty and I had as kids- if that was even possible.

"What do you want to get Mommy?" I asked Maddie who was sitting in the back seat.

"Uh... I don't know." Well that wasn't very helpful. "What do you think Mommy will like?"

"Well, you know Mommy pretty well. What do you think she would want?"

"A bike!" Maddie cheered from the back seat. Ugh... that stupid bike.

"Uh... how about something else? Mommy doesn't need a bike."

"But Daddy, you asked me what she wanted and she has asked for a bike every year. We should get Mommy a bike."

"Bike!" Noah blurted. He didn't know the significance of the bike yet. He just liked to follow what his sister said.

"No bike guys. Try to come up with something else."

For the rest of the car ride, we tried to come up with other ideas fro Misty's gift, but things kept coming back to the bike. It got to the point where my kids started chanting bike in the backseat. I think I finally understood why people thought I was annoying as a kid.

When we got to the mall, I somehow managed to unload everything, stick Noah in his stroller, and get into the mall without having to chase after a kid. Believe me, this was considered a success in my life. The first store we went to was a Pokemon store that sold all kinds of supplies and Pokemon related merchandises. Of course, since we were in the Pokemon store, all chances of finding something for Misty went down the drain.

"No Maddie. We're here for Mommy, not you," I said for what felt like the millionth time as Maddie brought over some Pokegear thing. Every time I told her no, she would just come back with something else. I finally gave up and left the store to head to another one.

We were walking through the mall when I was halted by a shriek of joy from Maddie. "I FOUND IT!" she exclaimed, stopping in front of a store window. Before I went to check out what she was looking at, I silently prayed it was something for Misty and not her.

"What is it Maddie?" I asked, walking up to the window.

"I want to get Mommy that!" she declared, pointing to a fishing pole. I guess that could work. Misty's current fishing pole was really old and would probably break if she caught anything larger than five pounds. "Mommy loves fishing so I know she would love that."

"Hmm, I think that's a great idea Maddie." Deciding to walk into the store, we went up and asked a worker about the fishing pole in the window. He explained that it was on sale and that it was the latest design in fishing poles. Whatever that meant. Again, Misty understood this stuff a lot better than I did. Taking his word for it, we purchased the fishing pole and a new tackle box.

"Daddy?" Maddie asked as we left the store. "Can we get stickers?"

"For what?" I asked.

"To decorate the tackle box," she explained.

"Yeah sure. That sounds like a good idea." Misty was always a big softy for hand made stuff from her kids no matter how bad it looked. I always had to be careful when I shut the refrigerator, preventing the numerous pictures from falling off. After some convincing, I had finally gotten Misty to buy a small chest that she could stick everything in if she wanted to save it.

After buying numerous packs of stickers, each one having a specific meaning behind it, we headed to the car so we could get home before Misty did. Once we were home, I set the tackle box and stickers on the floor so Maddie and Noah could decorate the box. Without even having to ask, you could easily tell which stickers Maddie had placed on the box and which ones Noah had. While Maddie had neatly placed them in a specific order, Noah had covered one section of the box with the same pack of stickers, many of them overlapping. He had also managed to stick a few on himself, too. Since I wasn't too big on the creative side, I had let them do it on their own.

When they were done, we attempted to wrap the box the best we could. It didn't look too bad, but it wasn't wrapped as neat as Misty could wrap something. Basically, you could tell a guy and two kids had wrapped it, with numerous amounts of tape and bows scattered over the paper. We had decided that we weren't going to wrap the fishing pole and instead give it to her after she opened the tackle box. Also, it would be kind go obvious what it was if we tried to wrap it. With only a few minutes until Misty was due to arrive home, I pulled out the cards Maddie and Noah had made yesterday and had them sign them.

"I'm home!" Misty called, just as they were finishing up signing the cards and I was finishing up hanging up the sign they had made for her.

"MOMMY!" Maddie and Noah cried, racing to meet Misty. They crashed into her, each one grabbing on of her legs, refusing to let go. Bending down, Misty patted each one on the head before she picked Noah up and walked to the kitchen.

'HAPPY BRITHDAY MOMMY!" Maddie cheered, pulling Misty over to see the sign her and Noah had made for her. Just like Maddie had cheered, the sign read, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY/ MIST! WE LOVE YOU!'

"Aww," Misty cooed in that mom voice. "Thank you very much. I love it." And I could tell she really did by the way her eyes lit up and a little bit of red appeared on her cheeks.

"Open your present!" Maddie demanded, shoving the poorly wrapped gift into Misty's hands.

Upon seeing how the gift was wrapped, Misty just smiled and laughed. "Did you two wrap this for me?" she asked, addressing her two kids.

"Yep," Maddie nodded. "Daddy helped us, too."

"He did, did he?" she asked, turning to smile at me as Maddie nodded again. Lifting the box to her ear, she shook it trying to figure it out. "I wonder what it is."

"It's the best gift ever!"

"Eva!" Noah repeated, clapping his hands.

"The best gift ever?" Misty asked. "Better than you and Noah?" To Misty the best gifts she had ever received-despite what she might have said in the hospital-were Maddie and Noah.

"Mommy," Maddie whined. "Open the gift."

"Open! Open!" Noah clapped some more.

"Okay," she sighed. And with that she began tearing at the paper, slowly revealing the gift. When she had removed all the paper, she examined the sticker-covered box before popping the top and opening it. "It's a tackle box! I've been needing a new one." Setting the box on the table, she leaned down to give Maddie and Noah a group hug. "Thank you very much you two. I love it. I love the stickers, too."

"There's Pikachus, Tentacruels, lots of water pokemon, a Togepi, the cascade badge and lots of other stuff," Maddie pointed out for her. When they were picking out the stickers they had tried to pick ones that had significant meaning to Misty.

"There's one more thing, Misty," I told her standing up to go get the fishing pole.

"WAIT!" Maddie shouted, halting me. "You have to open our cards first."

"Oh of course," Misty agreed as Maddie handed her the two cards. Opening the first one Misty awed at the abstract drawing Noah had colored for her. Since he couldn't write his name, Maddie had written it for him. Next she opened Maddie's card, causing a laugh to escape her lips.

"What's so funny?" I asked. I hadn't read the cards they made.

"Here," she said handing me the card. When I opened it, I just rolled my eyes at what Maddie had written. _Daddy wouldn't let us get you a bike, so this was the closest thing we could come up with, _the card read. Handing back the card to Misty, I went to go get the fishing pole.

When I brought it out, Misty couldn't help but laugh as she made the connection between Maddie's card and the gift. She loved it though, and instantly snatched the fishing pole from my hands before I could hand it to her. She said some more thank yous to Maddie and Noah before we had some dinner and cake. For once, this had actually turned out to be a nice birthday for her.

After the kids were put in bed, Misty and I headed back to the kitchen to clean up the festivities from earlier.

"So what did you get me, Mr. Pokemon Master," Misty asked, smirking with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing," I replied.

"What?" she asked shocked.

"I'm kidding Mist. Of course I got you something." I smiled as a small smile crept onto her face. Turning to face her, I pulled out a small box from my pocket and handed it over to her. "Here."

"What is it?" she asked, examining the box.

"You have to open it." Like I would tell her. That would ruin the surprise.

Rolling her eyes at me, she tore away the paper that was wrapped around the box. Opening the little box, she gasped at the sight before her, putting her hand over her mouth. Inside the box was a necklace with a ruby pendant just like the one found on a Tentacool. Pulling the necklace out of the box, she turned around so I could help her put it on. She pulled up her hair so I could slip it around her neck and clasp it shut. "It's beautiful Ash," she whispered, holding the pendant in her hands.

"I'm glad you like it," I smiled. I knew she would, but it was always nice to hear her say it.

"I love it," she sighed in content, pulling me in for a hug and then a kiss. Just before she pulled away, though, I heard her whisper something in my ear. "But mark my words, Ketchum. One day I'll get my bike."


	11. Sweet, Sweet Payback

**_Sweet, Sweet Paybacks_**

MADDIE: AGE 7

NOAH: AGE 1 1/2

You know that saying? Where people kid about your children being payback for the way you acted as a kid? Yeah, well, I used to not believe that. Now, though, I find myself a true believer in that statement- Misty and I both, actually. As Noah got older, Misty and I started to realize just what we would be dealing with for the rest of our lives. It would always start with a stolen toy and-because he couldn't say anything coherent-followed by Noah trying to hit Maddie or him crying. These fights between our children had taught Misty and I few valuable lessons. For starters, we finally understood how Brock felt having to travel with us and having to listen to our constant fighting. The fateful day when everything changed and Misty and I experienced our first signs of payback, happened when Noah was nearing two. And as usual, Brock was there to see our kids at their worst.

"DADDY!" my seven-year-old daughter shrieked from the family room. Thinking something terrible had happened, Misty, Brock and I rushed into the family room.

When we got there, we saw that Noah had grabbed a hold of Maddie's hair in retaliation for her stealing his Pikachu stuffed animal. Rushing over, I pried Noah's hand open and pulled it away from Maddie's hair.

"Stop pulling my hair Noah!" Maddie yelled at her little brother.

"Noah, you don't pull your sister's hair. That's a no no," I chided my son although, I doubt he could understand very well.

"Pidachu!" Noah cried, pointing to the stuffed animal in Maddie's arms.

"Maddie, did you take the Pikachu from Noah without asking?"

"No." Little liar.

"Maddie," I said a bit more sternly.

"He started it!" she yelled in defense as she pointed accusingly at Noah.

"No," Noah stated shaking his little head.

"Yeah-huh!"

"No."

"Stop being a baby Noah,"

"CUT IT OUT!" Misty yelled, silencing her fighting children. "Nobody gets the Pikachu," she declared taking the stuffed animal from Maddie. That was one was to solve things.

"See what you did Noah?" Maddie accused him some more. She really didn't care that he was one-year old and probably had no idea what she was saying. To her, no matter his age, he was responsible.

"Wunt," he replied, silencing everyone in the room. Extremely ticked off by what her brother had called her, Maddie folded her arms across her chest and glared at Noah. Seeing the reaction he got out of his sister, Noah repeated what he said. "Wunt."

"Did he just call her a runt?" Brock asked, trying to contain his laughter.

"Shut up Brock!" Misty snapped. She was not happy with what was unfolding in front of her.

"Dense! You don't even know hat that means!" Maddie retaliated. "Mommy make him stop!"

"Wunt," he giggled. Where had he even learned that word?

Unable to control his laughter, Brock buckled over, clutching his stomach. Shocked by what we were saying, Misty and I exchanged glances before we turned to glare at our laughing friend.

"This is great," he laughed.

"Care to share, Brock?" Misty sneered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because I don't see what's so great about this situation."

"You guys are so screwed," he commented.

"Brock!" Misty screeched. "Don't say words like that."

"Sorry," he laughed. "But this is too funny." Misty just tapped her foot in annoyance at Brock's lack of sharing. "It's just that, this is what I had to deal with everyday and now here it is front of your eyes being relived through your children. I have a feeling this isn't going to be the first time this will happen. Man I love paybacks." I wanted to smack that smirk right off his face.

"This is all your fault!" Misty accused me.

"What did I do?" I asked her, totally confused.

"If you didn't call me a runt than Noah would have never learned that word!"

"Oh yeah? Because I'm pretty sure you were the one who called me dense. Where do you think Maddie learned that one, Mist? Huh?" She was not going to accuse me when she was just as guilty.

"Cut it out you two! Jesus! And you wonder why your kids are acting this way," Brock shook his head.

"Were we really like this?" Misty asked, her tone a bit more sympathetic.

"Every day," Brock stated.

"Every day?" I made sure.

"Every freaking day."

"I'm so sorry," Misty apologized.

"FINALLY!" Brock celebrated. "AFTER 22 YEARS!" I guess we had never apologized to him before. "THANK YOU!"

"Uh...You're welcome," Misty said sheepishly a little creeped out.

"WUNT!"

"BIG BABY!"

I was starting to get what Brock was saying. Replace the names and faces and you have Misty and I 22 years ago. It was the same insults, just a different cause for the argument.

Finally deciding to intervene, Misty picked up Noah and carried him back upstairs to his room, ceasing the argument from continuing on. It would be from then on that Misty and I would have to deal with the constant fights between our kids and the insults they decided to throw at each other. I guess we were finally getting what we rightfully deserved.


	12. Trick Or Treating

**_Trick-Or-Treating_**

MADDIE: AGE 8

NOAH:AGE 2

"Okay! Are you ready for us Misty?" my husband asked from behind the closed door.

Tonight was Halloween and Ash had kindly agreed to take the kids trick-or-treating while I stayed home and passed out candy. He had only agreed to do this if I had let him pick out their costumes. At first I was a bit hesitant, but now I was fearful. Ash liked to think he was funny, instead always doing things that only ticked me off instead. Since this was Halloween it only made sense that he would try the humorous approach with our children's costumes despite my pleas not to.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I sighed, grabbing the camera from the table.

"Okay! Here we come!" he called, opening the door to reveal our dressed up children. Maddie walked in first, followed by Noah in a wagon that was being pulled by Ash.

"So what do you think?" he asked, clearly proud of his choice of costumes.

Standing in front me was my poor baby Noah dressed up in a Psyduck costume that was at least one size too big on him. The furry costume even had the three little hairs on Psyduck's head that only made him look worse. Was this Ash's idea of some sick joke? What exactly was he saying about my Noah? That he was dense and dimwitted like Psyduck? I was afraid to glance at Maddie, but I somehow convinced myself to, regretting it immediately. My poor daughter was dressed up in Ash's clothes from when he was 10 years old; hat, same backpack, gloves and real Pikachu included.

"What did do you do to my children?" I gasped.

"Ouch. That's a little harsh. I worked hard on these," he moped.

"Look Mommy! I'm just like Daddy," Maddie cheered, striking Ash's old victory pose. I'm had a feeling he had taught her that, too. Well, at least she liked the costume. She was the one who had to wear it after all.

"Pieduck," Noah said, tilting his head to the side. Okay. I would admit, that was adorable.

"Ash," I sighed, face palming.

"What?" he questioned. "I don't know about you Mist, but I think Noah makes and adorable Psyduck. Don't you buddy?" he cooed, tickling Noah's sides.

"Whatever. I have no energy to care," I gave up. "Just let me take the picture."

"Go stand in front of the door," Ash instructed as he led Noah and Maddie over to the kitchen door. Once they were situated in front of the door, Ash walked toward me. "Okay. Say cheese."

"Cheese!"

"Twease!" Snap. One picture was all I needed.

The future embarrassment my children would face when they were older was good enough for me. I didn't need a million pictures. Picking Noah back up, Ash carried him over to the wagon and placed him inside, handing him his little trick-or treating bag.

"You guys ready?" Ash asked rather excited. I think he wanted to go trick-or-treating more than they did.

With claps and cries of agreement, Ash pulled Noah's wagon out of the kitchen and out onto the front porch. Maddie followed close behind, talking excitedly about all the candy she wanted to get. As they walked down the driveway, I couldn't help but overhear Ash teaching them some little tick-or-treat rhymes to say when they rang the doorbell.

It was going to be a long night.


	13. My Hero

_**My Hero**_

_By Madeline (Maddie) Ketchum_

_Age 9_

_Too alarming now to talk about  
>Take your pictures down and shake it out<br>Truth or consequence, say it aloud  
>Use that evidence, racing around<em>

My name's Maddie and I'm the daughter of the famous Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum. But you probably already knew that, so I don't know why I'm saying that. Anyways, none of that matters to me. I know it might be hard to believe, but I could care less if my dad wasn't the Pokemon Master. But I'm getting off topic. As part of my Pokemon Training Prep camp, I have to complete an assignment about the most cliché thing ever: Who is your hero?

Most kids would say a super hero in a comic or, for many, my dad because of his prestigious title. The thing is, though, all those kids don't know my dad like I do. They don't know him as Ash. They only know him as the Pokemon Master who they watch win battles on T.V. Unlike them, I have the pictures and memories to prove that my dad isn't _just_ the Pokemon Master. And that's why I chose him as my hero and long to be just like him. I chose him because he's so much more than a famous person.

_There goes my hero  
>Watch him as he goes<br>There goes my hero  
>He's ordinary<em>

When I think of the reasons why my dad is my hero, all I can think of is the things he did that had nothing to do with winning or being the best. They are the things he did like teach me everything I know, back me up on my dreams 100%, no matter what, or take those few extra minutes to play one last game of cards with me when he knew he was exhausted and had to get up early. It's the things that make him an ordinary person that I love the most. The ones that in the end count more than the badges and trophies.

Don't the best of them bleed it out  
>While the rest of them peter out<br>Truth or consequence, say it aloud  
>Use that evidence, race it around<p>

I am well aware that my dad has worked hard for his title and I am honored to be around to see him live out the dream he's had since a kid. (At least that's what he says). But it is more the way he got there I value than the fact he actually got there. (Does that even make sense? Oh well.) Anyways, he never gave up, no matter how many times he lost or didn't win a league. He had ups and downs that he worked through, only making him stronger. He proved to the world that the seemingly nothing Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet could be something more. What I admire him for the most, though, is unlike those other trainers he's faced or who have gone on to do well, he never let go of what was important. And that's why I truly believe he succeeded. He had friends and family who loved him, and Pokemon who would do anything for him because they all knew he would do the same.

_There goes my hero  
>Watch him as he goes<br>There goes my hero  
>He's ordinary<em>

To those kids in my class who put my dad as their hero: Would you put him as your hero for the same reasons if you knew everything he sacrificed for us? I don't think so. Although my dad was the Pokemon Master, above all he was a Dad. And unlike previous Masters, he put us before his title every time. My dad knew that at any time he could lose a battle and lose his title, but he would always have his family. If he had put his title before us and then lost, he would have nothing. But that wasn't my dad. He knew better. He sacrificed vacation days and important dinners so he could stay home and take care of us when we were sick, or to attend special occasions like birthdays and holidays. He stayed up late with me until I fell back asleep when I would wake up with nightmares. Sometimes this happened up to three times a night. He took time to share the stories of his childhood and how he was chased all over by a group that called themselves Team Rocket. How he risked his life to save friends, Pokemon, and even the world. And when he had to go away for a conference, he would call every night to talk to us no matter how late it was, promising he would be home soon.

_Kudos my hero leaving all the best_  
><em>You know my hero, the one that's on<em>

The thing about my dad was that, even though we all knew he was tired or clearly didn't have the time; he would never show it or make the time to do something with us. He would always put us first no matter what. Like the time I fell and broke my arm, he left the middle of a meeting to meet my mom and me at the hospital. Although we knew I would be fine, he was still there for me, holding my hand the whole time. And that's what makes him different from all the rest. He doesn't have super powers like super strength or super speed (He has Pokemon for that). Instead, he has the powers of love and kindness that you don't have to be a superhero in order to obtain. All you had to do was know what was important in the end.

_There goes my hero_  
><em>Watch him as he goes<em>  
><em>There goes my hero<em>  
><em>He's ordinary<em>

I chose to incorporate this song into my paper because it's truly what I believe about my dad. He's ordinary. To me he's just my dad and always will be. I know he's a bit goofy and childlike at times, often ticking my mom off with the things he does or doesn't do, but that's what makes him my dad. His passion for his friends and family and the Pokemon he loves. His promise that no matter what he'll be there until the very end, supporting us the whole way. He may not be the perfect parent in the eyes of society, but then again who is? I think nobody. What's important is my dad tries to be the best dad he can be. Along with Noah and I, he makes my mom-who is one of the hardest people to please-so happy just by being himself. He may make a few mistakes along the way, but I wouldn't have it any way.

_There goes my hero  
>Watch him as he goes<br>There goes my hero  
>He's ordinary<em>

So to those who are reading this, I don't know what the date is or if my dad is still the Pokemon Master. The only thing I do know is that my dad is still my hero for this reason: He's Ash Ketchum, the dad who puts his friends and family first, and who will never change just because someone tells him he should. (Unless maybe you're my mom). So when people ask me who I am long after my dad's reign has ended, I can still say with pride that I am the daughter of Ash Ketchum; my ordinary, one of a kind, hero.


	14. The Talk

**_The Talk_**

MADDIE: AGE 9**_  
><em>**

After looking through the window to make sure that Ash and Noah had indeed left, I rushed upstairs to where my daughter Maddie was finishing up her packing for her upcoming departure.

"Hey sweetie," I greeted her, walking through her door and sitting on her bed while she walked around the room grabbing a few things.

"Hey, Mom. Can I help you with something?" she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Why yes," I answered. "We...uh...we need to talk about a few things?" I can't believe this day had come when I had to talk to my daughter about that fact that she was growing up.

"About what?" she asked, shoving a few shirts into her bag.

"Stuff. Just sit down," I instructed her, pointing to the chair in front of her desk.

"Oookay," she said as she hesitantly sat down. "What's up?"

Placing my hands in my lap, I stared down at them unsure of how to start this conversation I had been dreading. It needed to be discussed, but I really hated having to crush her childhood innocence. "Well, in a few years, you're going to be going through some changes," I explained.

"Changes?"

"Yes. Changes in your body. You'll uh start to notice them and you'll need some stuff for them eventually."

"Can't I just use an ever stone? You know? To stop the changes until I'm ready?" I started at her, unsure of how to respond to that. Did she really just ask that? Clearly I had not educated her well.

"No Maddie. You're not a Pokemon," I sighed. "Oh forget it. Look Maddie. The truth is you don't make a wish to get a baby. And in a few years your body will start changing to accommodate."

"Then how do you get a baby?" she asked. Now I was stuck. I had to tell her the truth.

"Well..in a few years you'll start to experience this thing called puberty..." I started to explain, going through the difference between males and females and how her body would change and what to do when that happened. At first she seemed to be doing okay with what I was telling her, that is until I started talking about what would happen to her each month. At this point I watched as her face twisted into a look at horror as it slowly dawned on her. I would have stopped, but I needed to explain everything so she would be educated properly. I think my face turned at least 10 shades of red when I had to explain to her where exactly babies come from.

"You and Dad did what? That's just...just.. EW. Gross." She had a look of disgust on her face, probably trying to block the mental images she was seeing. Then suddenly her face turned into one of shock. "OH MY GOD! That's what you were doing when you locked me out of your room when I was a kid?"

"Uh yeah," I replied scratching the back of my head. I couldn't say no could I? "But you won't have to worry about that until you're much older, RIGHT?" I asked her.

"Uh. Duh, mom. That's just gross." Thank god her hormones hadn't arrived.

"I say that because when you get older Maddie you will start to notice boys in a different way. You'll think they are cute and these things called hormones will take over at times and make you act and think funny. Boys get them too and there's can be a lot more controlling, so just please be careful."

"Anything else?" she said, annoyance in her voice. I could tell that I probably needed to wrap up this conversation before she started to ignore me.

"Not now. We'll talk more when you get older and you are actually into boys. Then you'll have a whole new obstacle you'll have to face."

"And that is?"

"Your dad."

She tilted her head in confusion, but I would wait until she had a boyfriend and introduced us to him for that one. That would be a huge test of Ash and Maddie's relationship.

Later that evening after dinner, I was cleaning up the dishes when I felt somebody wrap their arms around my waist before he said, "I heard there's supposed to be a shooting star tonight. I heard that when you see them you're supposed to make a wish."

Before I could respond, I heard a loud crash as a plate was dropped, shattering on the floor. Whipping around, Ash and I saw Maddie standing in the doorway a look somewhere between horror and disgust on her face.

"GOD!" she shouted. "How can you two even think about THAT after we just ate? You're disgusting Dad. Thanks a lot, I'm now scared for life." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out the door, shouting some more about her parents lack of consideration as she walked back upstairs.

"What was that all about?" Ash asked

"I might have told her the truth," I said sheepishly.

"The truth about what?" I guess I wasn't very clear.

"Where babies come from."

"Oh," he replied, his mouth forming an o-shape. Then I think it hit him because I saw his face pale. "OH MY DID YOU DO TO MY LITTLE GIRL, MISTY? Now she's going to like boys. There's going to be boys after my daughter! Boys like Brock are going to be after her!" he started freaking out, pacing back in forth. He might have been getting a little ahead of himself.

"Don't worry, Ash. You've got at least three years."

"Three years?" he asked, briefly glancing at me. "I better start preparing." He walked out of the kitchen, unanswered questions in the air. What exactly was he doing to prepare?


	15. Prepare For Trouble

_**Prepare For Trouble**_

For **_Mclash_**, who suggested this idea.

MADDIE: AGE 5 1/2

I was reading the paper while I finished up my bagel when I heard the doorbell ring. As I stood up to walk to the door, I heard Maddie running down the hall trying to beat me there. With her favorite new activity being still very active, I knew I had to beat her to the door.

"Maddie," I called. "Let Mommy answer the door."

When I got to the door, though, she was trying to stand on her tippy-toes so she could see through the little peep-hole. When she saw me walking toward the door, she started jumping up and down in anticipation of the door opening.

"Maddie, please no Team Rocket today," I begged her.

She completely ignored me, though. I had a feeling I would have been better off not having mentioned it to her.

"Prepare for trouble!" she shouted from behind me when I opened the door.

I would never forgive Ash for teaching her that dumb motto. I had heard enough of it in my youth and that was plenty for me. When I opened the door, though, a man I didn't recognize was standing on the front step. He was dressed in an orange suit and his black hair was slicked back. At my daughter's reciting of the motto, he smiled, but I wasn't quite sure if he was smiling because he thought it was adorable or because he was happy she knew it.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Is Mr. Ketchum here?" the man asked.

"He's not here right now, can I leave him a message?"

"No. That won't be necessary. Will he be home this evening?"

"Yes."

"I'll come by then," the man announced before turning around to leave.

As I shut the door, I couldn't help but think how strange it was that he had stopped by. Not many people stopped by looking for Ash, knowing that they could easily find him at work. This man seemed different, though, as if he didn't know Ash very well. If he did, he wouldn't have called him Mr. Ketchum. For some unexplainable reason, I felt this almost evil vibe coming from him warning me to be careful.

* * *

><p>Later that evening while we were eating dinner, there was a knock on the door.<p>

"It's for you," I explained to Ash. "Some man stopped by today looking for you."

Rising from his chair, he went to answer the door, a curious Maddie following close behind him. I tried to stop her from following him, but I couldn't grab her in time. If this man was here to talk to Ash, I figured I should follow them in case I needed to make sure Maddie wasn't getting in the way. Sighing, I stood up and walked to the door where I saw the man from earlier standing in the doorway.

"Prepare for trouble!" Maddie greeted the man.

"Ah, and make it double little girl," the man replied, an sly smile on his face.

Maddie's little brown eyes widened in shock at having met someone who knew how to reply to what she had said. "To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of tuwth-"

"Maddie, stop," Ash ordered. That worked immediately.

As if nothing had happened, the man returned to talking to Ash. "Are you Mr. Ketchum?" the man asked. Ash nodded. "Could I have a moment with you alone, please?"

"Uh...sure," Ash replied. He glanced over his shoulder and gave me a look that said to get Maddie and leave.

Grabbing my daughter I carried her upstairs to her room where we would be out of earshot. When we reached her room, I told her to pick a story for me to read to her while we waited. She handed me the book before she jumped on her bed and waited for me to sit down next to her.

"Mommy, who was at the door?" she asked me, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"I don't know, sweetie."

"He knew the motto, Mommy! Did you see that? He knew what to say!" She was bouncing with excitement. I was not.

"Yes I did."

"Do you know what that means?" she asked me, leaning in close. "Team Rocket tried to steal his Pikachu, too!"

"That must be it," I replied. Although, I had a feeling he knew the motto due to an entirely different reason.

"Is Daddy going to be okay?"

"Don't worry, he'll be okay," I assured her. I just hoped I was right.

About a half hour later, Maddie had fallen asleep and I had read through all of her books. Even though she was asleep, I stayed in there just in case she woke up and decided to run downstairs again. Another ten minutes went by until I heard footsteps going up the stairs followed by the door to our room shutting. Hmm. Hopping off Maddie's bed, I tiptoed out of her room, shutting the door quietly behind me. With it securely shut, I walked the short distance to our bedroom only to find the door had been locked. Frowning at the door, I was about to knock when I heard voices coming from the other end.

"How could you not tell me? Did you think I'd never find out?" I heard Ash yell at whomever he was talking to.

"I was trying to protect you," I heard Delia's voice reply.

"Well he found me," Ash said rather bluntly. "Despite having never known about me, I might add."

"Ash, I don't think we should talk about this on the phone. How about you come over and we can talk then," Delia suggested.

"Oh, so NOW you want to talk about it?"

"Ash-" But she was cut off when Ash slammed the phone back onto the receiver.

I would admit that his behavior had me very scared because I had never heard him yell at his mom like that, nor did he even yell like that unless he was very upset about something. Putting my fear aside, I knocked on the door.

"Ash?"

"Go away," he snapped.

"Hey!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice from waking Maddie up. "Stop acting like a little kid and open this door right now. If I have to I'll have Pikachu blast open-"

"What?" he asked, swinging the door open, cutting me off in the middle of my rant.

The Ash in front of me was not an Ash I recognized. His face looked like he had just found out something bad had happened to Pikachu, and his eyes flashed with anger and rage I had only ever seen once before. That man had done or said something to Ash, and whatever that was, I could tell it was eating him alive.

"Ash," I whispered, resting my hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" I knew the answer to that question, but I was supposed to pretend I hadn't heard him talking to his mom.

Ignoring my question, he replied with another one. "Misty do you know who that was at the door?"

"No," I replied shaking my head.

"That was Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. And do you know what he wanted, Misty?" Again not knowing the answer to that question, I shook my head. "He wanted me to take over Team Rocket for him."

"WHAT?" I cried. Realizing my voice was a little too loud I brought it back down to a whisper. "What did he want you to take over Team Rocket for?"

"To pass on the family business."

"The family business?" I asked, but then it hit me. If Giovanni wanted to pass down Team Rocket to keep it in the family, then that meant.. that meant. "He's-he's your dad, isn't he?"

Nodding slowly, Ash's motion only confirmed what he and I didn't want to accept. But how was that possible? I mean, I knew how it was biologically possible, but Ms. Ketchum wasn't the type to get involved with people who ran criminal organizations.

"Are you sure?" I asked tentatively. "He could be faking it."

"I'm sure, Misty. He had a picture of my mom and him when she was much younger. He told me that my mom never told him that she was pregnant with me. They dated when they were in their early 20s before he took over Team Rocket."

"How did he find out?"

"Jessie and James. They were always telling him about Pikachu. He recognized my last name immediately since it was my mom's maiden name. And then he told me how my mom had always said that if she ever had a son she would name him Ash. So you put two and two together Misty. How do you think he found out?"

"Ash, I'm sorry."

"She lied to me for 30 years, Misty! 30 years she neglected to tell me that my father was the leader of Team Rocket. And you know why she did it? She said it was to protect me. She didn't do a very good job considering he found me. He just showed up on my doorstep asking if I would take over Team Rocket for him?"

"You said no, right?"

"Of course I said no!" he shouted. "Although he thought I was training Maddie since she started shouting the Team Rocket motto when I answered the door."

"That's your fault," I reminded him. He just glared at me, so I softened my face a bit. "So what are you going to do?"

"I-I don't know, Mist," he choked, sitting down on the bed. "He said he'd leave me alone, but what if the media finds out? Everyone will think I'm just like him."

"That's not going to happen," I promised him.

"I've always wondered about my dad, but this isn't how I wanted it to turn out. To find out that he's the leader of a criminal organization that has caused me so many problems thought my life." He put his head in his hands, trying to wrap his head around what he had just found out. Suddenly, though, his head shot up. "What if-what if I turn out just like him? What if it's genetic or something?"

"Ash!" I yelled, grabbing his shoulders, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "That's nonsense. You're a great dad and Maddie loves you. You'll never be like him, so stop with those crazy thoughts."

"But what am I going to do?"

"I don't know, Ash. We'll figure it out together, though. We always do."

We had fought off Team Rocket millions of times before, so what was one more time?


	16. A New Adventure

_**A New Adventure  
><strong>_

MADDIE: AGE 10

I paced back in forth in our kitchen, trying to think about anything but what was happening today. She had left over an hour ago and had yet to return making me worry a bit.

"Ash, sit down. You're worrying me." Pausing where I was, I turned to my wife who was sitting at the table feeding our son Noah.

"Yucky!" Noah made a face and turned his head away from the spoon.

"Yes!" Misty cheered from her chair. "He hates carrots!"

Turning away from them, I looked through the window to see if she was on her way back yet. When I heard the front door open, I snapped back to attention and flew to the front door.

"Uh...hi Dad," My daughter greeted me.

"What took you so long?" I asked her.

"Ash!" Misty yelled at me from the kitchen. "Leave your poor daughter alone."

Following Misty's voice, Maddie shook her head at me and made her way to the kitchen where her mother and brother were waiting. When she entered the kitchen, she sat down in the chair across from Misty and watched as Misty tried feeding Noah some peas. Figuring I would stop being annoying to my daughter, I sat down in the seat next to Misty and rested my head on the table. Once we were all seated, Maddie pulled out a red and white ball and set it on the table.

"Pokeball!" Noah shouted, pointing to the one Maddie had set on the table.

"That's right, Noah!" Misty praised him. After, she turned to Maddie. "So what'd you pick? I bet you picked a water Pokemon like your mom."

"Nope. Sorry, mom," Maddie laughed, emitting a pout from Misty.

"It's okay. You'll pick a water Pokemon like Mommy, won't you Noah?" she fussed, making faces at him.

"So what did Gary give you then?" I asked.

"Only a special Pokemon for his favorite person," she explained. "At least, that's what he told me."

Misty and I sat there eagerly awaiting Maddie to share with us what starter Pokemon she had received. At this point in time, Pikachu had decided to enter the room, and spotting the Pokeball, he jumped up on the table and sniffed it. Picking up the Pokeball, Maddie hit the center button opening the ball and releasing an Eevee.

"Aww! It's so adorable," Misty cooed.

"I know," Maddie grinned.

"Pet!" Noah yelled from his high chair.

Picking up Eevee, Maddie carried it over to where Noah was sitting in his high chair. With a reminded for him to be gentle, Maddie let him pet the Eevee. As he petted the little Pokemon, he grinned from ear to ear.

After Noah was done petting Eevee, Misty picked him up and carried him to the kitchen sink to wash him off. "You have everything you need, Maddie?"

"Yeah," Maddie nodded. "I'm ready when you guys are."

Recalling Eevee, she waited while Misty finished cleaning off Noah and grabbed the camera. Following them to the hallway, we went through the front door where Misty insisted taking some pictures. She took some of Maddie with each family member and then somehow convinced Pikachu to take a picture of the whole family. We would have to wait to see how that one turned out.

After we were done taking pictures, Maddie grabbed my old green backpack and hoisted it onto her shoulder. "I have to go now," she said softly.

"Wait, I have something for you," Misty said, pulling out a lure from her pocket. "Hopefully you'll catch something nice with it. And remember, if you happen to fish out a random boy and his Pokemon, take your bike and run away."

"Right," Maddie laughed. "Thanks mom."

"And stay away from people like Uncle Brock. And if anyone gives you trouble, don't hesitate to put them in their place." Great, now my wife was encouraging my daughter to have a temper. "Oh! And-"

"Mom," Maddie groaned.

"Sorry. I just didn't want to forget everything. One last thing, okay?"

"Fine," Maddie sighed.

"Be careful who you tell your name to. There are people out there who might want to hurt you if they find out who you are, so it's okay if you are a little skeptical."

Understanding Misty's concerns, Maddie nodded in affirmation.

Next she turned to me, and that's when I couldn't take it anymore. I had been counting the down the days since almost a month ago. I knew that this was what she needed to do, but there was a part of me that didn't want her to go. All I could think about was how dangerous my own journey was and how many times I had almost come close to dieing. She was the mini version of me, and all I could do was pray she was a bit smarter than I was because I just couldn't imagine those things happening to her.

"Ash," Misty elbowed me, snapping me back to reality.

"Oh! Here," I said, pulling my famous hat from my pocket. "It'll bring you good luck."

"Thanks Dad," she smiled, taking the old and beat up hat from my hand. Placing the hat on her head, she stepped forward and embraced me in a hug. "I'm really going to miss you."

Since this was probably going to be the last time I could hug her for a while, I pulled her close to me. "I'm going to miss you, too. I love you." Letting go, I stepped back so I was an arms length from her, meeting her matching brown eyes. "Promise me you'll be safe, okay?"

"I'm going to be fine, Dad," she laughed. I had told my mom those same words when I had left and I had turned out okay, so I had to believe her.

"Remember to call us when you reach Viridian City," Misty reminded her.

"I know."

Giving Misty, Noah and Pikachu a final hug, she said one last goodbye before hopping on her bike and peddling down the path and onto route one. As I watched her leave, I couldn't help but want to go get her and make her stay for just one more day.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I asked Misty.

"Considering she's already off to a better start than you, yes," Misty smirked.

Just as she was about to disappear into the distance, she stopped her bike and waved back at us. Waving back one last time, I took a mental photograph of how she looked now. She had her black hair tied up into a ponytail and she wore an orange shirt, white shorts and Misty's old sneakers. Lowering my hand as she disappeared for good, I smiled one last time before turning back to go inside. Things were going to change around here.


	17. What My Mom Neglected To Warn Me About

_**What My Mom Neglected To Warn Me About**_

MADDIE: AGE 10

I stood in the middle of the forest, gripping the map I had gotten at the Pokemon Center. I had been standing here for ten minutes trying to figure out where I was, but I had no idea. And if I had no idea where I was, then there was no way I was going to find my way out. I could just hear my mom's voice as she laughed saying, "Looks like you got your father's sense of direction." I just shook my head and plopped down on the forest floor below me.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled at the sky from where I was sitting. I didn't want to be stuck in this stupid forest like this. I watched as a few nearby Pidgeys and Spearow flew out of the trees, frightened by my yelling.

"Scaring them away isn't going to help you catch them you know?" A voice from behind me said.

"I know that," I shouted back, turning around to see who was yelling at me.

When I turned around there was a boy about my age with brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt, khaki pants, tennis shoes and a baseball cap that he had facing backwards. He had his hands crossed over his chest as he smirked at my unfortunate situation.

"So...what are you doing then?"

"I'm lost," I sighed. "I can't figure out how to read this stupid map." Again he smirked at me as he walked over and snatched the map from my hands. "Hey! That's mine!"

"You obviously can't figure this out, so I'm going to help you," he stated before burying his nose in the map.

"Hey, if you're supposed to know how to get out of here, why are you looking at my map?"

"I'm double checking," he told me. After a while of staring at the map, he finally looked up. "It looks like you want to go that way," he explained, pointing towards the path to the right. "That should lead you to Vermillion City. That's where you're headed, right?"

"Right."

"Cool, me too. I'll join you to make sure you don't get lost again," he told me as he stuffed the map in his pocket and started walking.

"Uhh..." I wasn't quite sure how to take what he had said. I mean he had just invited himself to join me on my travels to Vermillion City.

He stopped walking and quickly turned around, his face turning red a bit. "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Grant Rowser," he announced sticking out his hand for me to shake. "I'm from Viridian City."

Shaking his hand, I smiled sweetly. "I'm Maddie."

"Do you have a last name?" he asked, pulling his hand away.

"Maybe."

"Well what is it?"

"My mom said I'm not supposed to share it with everyone. You're lucky I even told you my first name."

"I guess the little baby still listens to her Mommy," he teased.

"I'm not a baby!"

"Then tell me your last name, baby."

"I can't." I glared at him, trying to see if I could scare him away, but it failed. So, instead I turned on my heel and started walking down the path he had pointed out earlier. I knew where to go so I didn't need his help anymore, and I could always get a new map.

As I walked down the path, I heard him rush up beside me muttering things about how I was going to get lost again without him. While we walked down the path to Vermillion, he continued his onslaught of questions asking where I was from, what Pokemon I had and why I was going on my journey. Just basic questions that most trainers were asked. He went on to try and ask me about my family, but when it came to those questions I was very vague about my answers. I didn't know if I could trust him yet, so I had to be careful.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked him, turning the questions on him.

"I want to run my own gym someday. I haven't quite figured out what I would specialize in, though, because I don't really have a favorite type. So far I have a Pidgeotto, a Staryu and a Chikorita my uncle sent over from Johto."

"That's really neat."

"I guess," he shrugged. "If you could meet any person who would it be?"

"I don't know," I replied. What he didn't know was that I pretty much knew everyone famous because of my dad. While most kids dreamed about meeting people such as Lance or Loreli, I had sat on their laps as a kid. "How about you?"

"You're not very good at answering question," he pointed out. "But if I could meet anyone, I would jump at the chance to meet the Pokemon Master."

Not that his answered surprised me, but it was still weird to hear people wish they could meet my dad when I saw him almost every day. "Why's that?"

"I grew up watching him as a kid. He's always been my hero, but not because of all the cool stuff he's done. Don't get me wrong, he's achieved some amazing things, but what I have always looked up to him for was the way he treated his Pokemon and the way he never let it go to his head. He just seems really down to earth, like he would be fun just to hang out with for a day. I heard he's still a kid at heart."

Unknowingly, I had stopped walking, a little surprised by Grant's statement. Most kids had always admired my dad because of all his trophies and his status alone. This boy, though, he was different. He looked up to my dad the same way I did, and admired him because he was Ash.

"Yeah, he would be cool to meet."

"He's supposed to have a daughter our age, and a son who's a bit younger. Did you know that?" Yes, I knew that. I just nodded as he continued to spurt out facts that I already knew. "His wife is Misty, the old Cerulean Gym Leader. It would be neat to meet her, too. I just wouldn't want to make her mad. I heard she has quite the temper." Ah, yes. Even to random strangers I had met in the woods, my mother's notorious temper lived on.

"Look! We made it!" I cried, pointing to the city at the bottom of the hill.

Grabbing Grant's wrist, I dragged him along with me as I raced down the hill and into the city below. "Maddie! Slow down!" he shouted at me. I wasn't about to slow down, though.

When we reached the center, I burst through the doors, happy to have finally arrived back into civilization. I didn't mind camping every now and then, but after being stuck in the woods for so long, it got tiring. After giving our Pokemon to Nurse Joy, Grant and I sat on one of the couches while we waited for them to finish being healed.

"Hey Maddie?" Grant asked me.

"Hmm?"

"You and I should travel together."

"What? Why?"

"Uh, because without me you'll get yourself lost in the woods again, You clearly need my help."

"I'm don't need you," I huffed, crossing me arms.

"Trust me, you do," he assured me. "Plus, it was kind of nice not having to travel by myself. I liked talking to you and it would be nice to get to know you more. I mean, all I know is that you can't read a map."

"And that's all you'll ever know," I snapped.

"Please? I can have my mom transfer my bike over so I can keep up with you."

"Fine," I grumbled. I wasn't too happy about this, but I knew he probably wouldn't leave me alone.

"Yes!" he cheered, thrusting his fist in the air. He put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me towards him."We're going to make a great team. I can feel it."

Yeah, I wasn't feeling it.

And as simple and anticlimactic as it was, that's how Grant Rowser became my traveling companion all through Kanto, and Johto. A boy who had just invited himself to travel with me insisting every time I tried to ditch him that if he didn't stick around, I would wind up lost in the woods forever. Where was the warning for that one mom?


	18. Phone Calls Home

**_Phone Calls Home_**

MADDIE: AGE 13****

I stared ahead at the blank screen that said, 'please wait' as I waited for someone on the other end to pick up the phone. Glancing over my shoulder, I looked to make sure Grant hadn't returned from his trip to town. I was potentially taking a risk by making this phone call, but it had been a long time.

"Helllloooo?" my brother's voice echoed through the phone. He was slightly obnoxious at times.

"Noah! It's Maddie!" I told him

"Maddie! How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, and yourself?"

My brother had really changed since I had last seen him. Now that he was seven years old, he looked much older and I could actually talk to him. Just like me he had black hair with bangs that fell on his forehead. His hair was down to his ears with a few tufts sticking out from him sleeping. On his face I could see the beginnings of some freckles, while his green eyes seemed to have darkened.

"Fine, I guess," he shrugged. "Mom's been driving me crazy, though. She freaks out every time I do something that she thinks is just like her."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Speaking of which, is mom there?"

"Maybe," he replied.

"Noah! Give mom the phone," I snapped. Now that brother was older, it had appeared as if he had gotten much more annoying.

"What's in it for me?" he asked, being his typical self. Every time you told him to do something, he would only do it if there was something in it for him.

"If you don't give her the phone, it'll be a nice punch to the head," I threatened.

At my threat, his eyes widened in fear. "MOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!" he cried.

"Honestly Noah," I heard my mom sigh. "You really don't need to shout. I'm right here. Now what's wrong?"

"Maddie said she would beat me up," he tattled.

"You two," my mom sighed, shaking her head. "Noah, go clean your room. I'll take care of it."

"But I don't want to," he whined, but with one swift glare from my mom, he was flying out of the room and up the steps.

Picking up the phone Noah had left dangling, my mom turned to me a big smile on her face. "Maddie! I'm so glad you called. I've missed you so much. How is everything?"

"It's going well. I just got to Goldenrod today, so yeah. I've been busy."

"I'm sure you have, " she smiled. "How's your friend Grant?"

"He's doing well. He went to go look around the city. That's why I was able to call."

"Ah, I see," she replied. Frowning she added, "You still haven't told him yet, I take it?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Maddie, you have to tell him. I could understand when you first met him, but you two have been traveling together for almost three years. I think you can trust him enough by now." I knew my mom was right, but I was still hesitant about telling Grant about who my family really was.

"I'll tell him one day," I promised her, but she still frowned at me.

"I hope so, sweetie. He seems like a sweet boy, so I think if you told him he wouldn't leave if that's what your afraid of." I guess my mom had always knew me pretty well.

"Yeah, I guess," I shrugged. "How's everyone at home?"

"We're all doing good over here. We miss you tons. Let's see, um, you're dad's been busy down at the league as usual. Noah just keeps growing up every day it seems. He likes to help Gary down at the lab a lot more, and the other day your father and him went to visit Brock. He says to tell you he says hi. Um, what else? Oh! Pikachu came down with a cold, but he's been resting at the center so he should be okay."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I've been doing fine. Your brother and father certainly keep me on my toes."

"I'm sure," I laughed. "Well I've got to go. I have my gym battle soon, so I need to prepare."

"All right, sweetie. I miss you very much, so come visit soon. We would love to see you."

"I know. I should be able to visit soon," I promised her. "Tell Dad I said hi, okay?"

"Will do. Bye, Maddie."

"Bye, mom" I replied, setting the phone back on the receiver.

I really did miss my family and I would love to go visit them soon, but going back to Pallet Town would mean that I would have to explain to Grant who I really was. I know it had been three years, and that was a long time, but there was still part of me that was afraid he would leave once he found out the truth. Or, at the very least, he would hate me for having lied to him for so long. Maybe after I was done with the Johto League, I would finally go back home and introduce him to my family.


	19. The Twins

**_The Twins_**

MADDIE: AGE 15

I was sitting on a swing minding my own business when I heard someone shout at me from across the way.

"Hey! I know you!" the girl yelled, running over to me as a boy followed closely behind her. "You're Maddie Ketchum."

I slowly craned my neck up to look at her. How had she figured it out? So far, with the five years I had been traveling, I had managed to avoid anyone finding out who I was. The girl stared back at me her blue eyes filled with excitement.

"Who are you?" I asked her instead.

"I'm Zoey, and this is my brother Adam. We're twins, see?" Pulling the boy next to her so I could see him, I saw that they were in fact twins. They both had brown hair and really blue eyes, but the boy was a bit taller than the girl. "Don't you remember us?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head.

"Zoey, how is she supposed to remember? We were one when me met. Nobody remembers that stuff," Adam sighed. "Sorry about my sister, she doesn't always think sometimes."

"Hey!" Zoeyyelled, whacking him over the head, "You take that back."

"I will when you say something smart for once," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Hmph," she huffed, folding her arms and turning away from him. When she looked back at me, though, her arms unfolded and she instantly returned to being peppy. "You should come meet our parents! They would love to meet you!"

"Woah!" I cried as she grabbed my arm and pulled me off the swing, dragging me along with her.

Sometime later, I found myself standing on the front porch of what I assumed was Zoey and Adam's house. Throwing her shoes off at the entrance, Zoey opened the door and dragged me inside. "Mom! Dad!"

"What is it dear?" I heard a women ask. "And your father's out of town, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. But, you have to meet this girl I met at the park!"

"She's delusional, Mom!" Adam yelled, rolling his eyes.

"Am not!" Zoey yelled back, finally releasing my arm.

As the two continued to fight, a woman who I figured was their mom, walked into the hallways, shaking her head at her two fighting children. She was holding a mixing bowl that she continued to stir in, waiting for her children to stop fighting. At her feet was a Skitty, who at the sight of me, ran over to greet me.

"Are you two finished?" their mom asked.

"Oh!" Zoey exclaimed, remembering that I was still there. "This is Maddie Ketchum! You remember her, right?"

"Of course I remember her," the lady smiled. "You look just like your father, Maddie."

I had to admit I was a little freaked out that everyone in this house knew who I was but I had no idea who they were. I really hope I wasn't being kidnapped, because if I am, my mom would kill me for not being more careful.

"Um, I hate to be rude, but I don't remember you," I explained.

Zoey and Adam's mom just laughed and smiled at me. "I'm sorry, dear. I should have introduced myself first. I'm May. My brother Max and I used to travel with your father when we were younger."

Oh... so that's how she knew who I was. I think I remembered my mom mentioning a May and Max every now and then. When I was one, we had gone to Hoenn once, so that' probably where I had met Zoey and Adam. No wonder I hadn't remembered.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it, dear. It's completely understandable." I couldn't help but feel relieved that she didn't get offended I didn't remember her. "If you two want to go get washed up, I'm almost done with lunch. You're more than welcome to join us, Maddie. We certainly have plenty of food."

"Yeah! Stay for lunch, Maddie!" Zoey pleaded, once again dragging me along.

After we got washed up, we sat at the table while May served each of us noodles. According to May, this was her children's favorite dish, and since they were stopping by for the day she had decided to treat them. I watched in amazement as Zoey and Adam scarffed down bowl after bowl of noodles. I had never met anyone who had an appetite quite like mine.

"Wow, you guys eat a lot," I awed, finishing off my fifth bowl of noodles.

"So do you," Adam smirked, gesturing to the empty bowls stacked next to me.

"Adam," May tisked. "Be nice to our guest. Eat all you want, Maddie. We have plenty of food."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I unfortunately got my father's appetite." This comment made May laugh.

"I can see that," she commented. "Don't worry, though. I was exactly like your father when I was his age. He and I could clear out a restaurant. We just ate so much." I guess that explained why Zoey and Adam ate so much. They had gotten it from their mom.

For the rest of lunch, May asked me how the rest of my family was doing and told me a few stories about traveling with my dad. She told me about how his Pikachu had also destroyed her bike while they were fighting off Team Rocket. Instead of battling gyms, she explained to me how she had gotten into contests, and has been participating in them ever since. She also mentioned that's where she had met her husband. His name was Drew, and he would always remind her of how much better he was than her, and then make up for it by giving her Pokemon roses. As far as the rest of her family was concerned, her brother Max had taken over the gym so their dad could retire to live the rest of his life in Petalburg with her mom.

After lunch, I told them that I really needed to go so that I could make it to the next city in time.

"Where are you going?" Zoey asked.

"Rustburo City," I told her

"Really? That's where Adam and I are headed. I'm participating in the contest there, and he wanted to battle the gym leader."

I didn't know if it was because I had enjoyed not being alone or because I was anticipating them asking, but before I knew it I found myself saying, "Would you like to travel with me?"

Unfortunately my old traveling partner Grant had to return home before I left so that he could help his parents with their store. During the Pokemon league in Johto, his mom had fallen ill, so he decided to go back home and help his father run the family business. As much as he had annoyed me over the years with his constant comments about how I couldn't read a map, I actually missed him. So maybe, traveling with Zoey and Adam would help me.

"I'd love to!" Zoey cheered, bouncing up and down. "It would be so nice to be with a girl for once. My brother can get pretty annoying after a while."

"Hey! I heard that," Adam snapped. "And you're not so perfect yourself."

"Whatever," she replied, waving him off. I couldn't help but think that if my dad had said that to my mom, she would have fought him on it instead of just blowing him off. "Let's go Maddie." She linked her arm with mine and proceeded to begin skipping down the path.

"Wait up!" Adam called rushing after us. "Bye mom! We'll call later."

"Bye kids!" May waved back. "Be careful and stay out of trouble."

"Yes mom!" they both answered.


	20. A Visit Home Part 1

_**A Visit Home Part 1**_

MADDIE: AGE 16

For Kelley Splash

As I walked out of the dreaded forest, I saw the sign that said, "Welcome to Viridian City" standing just on the outskirts of the town. It had been six years since I had last set foot in this city, and it looked exactly the same. I had just finished up with the Hoenn League, having come in the final four, but losing to some kid named with a Dragonite. Compared to how I placed in the Kanto and Johto leagues-top 8 and top 6, respectively-I still thought I had done really well. After the league I had called my parents who had asked me to come home and visit before Noah left on his own journey. He was turning 10 in two weeks, so my parents had been a little on edge. I had told them that I couldn't come, but when I got to Vermillion City, I realized that maybe after avoiding home in the past, it was finally time to visit.

When I reached the center, I handed Nurse Joy my Pokemon and sat down to wait. I don't why I was thinking about this, but as I sat on the couch and waited, I tried to imagine my parents sitting on this same couch years ago when they were kids. I wondered about what they might have talked about or, in my parent's case, argued about. In fact, if I was correct, it was because of my parents that this center had to be rebuilt. I laughed at that thought.

"Maddie? Is that you?" someone asked from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw none other than Grant Rowser my old traveling buy.

"Grant!" I greeted him, jumping off the couch so I could go say hi. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, remember?"

"Oh, right," I mumbled. How could I be so dumb and forgotten that?

"I see you've missed me," he beamed, some cockiness in his voice. "I'm surprised you found your way here without my amazing map reading skills."

"I see you haven't changed," I teased, knocking the baseball cap over his eyes. "Just as cocky as ever."

"Whatever, _Madeline_," he smirked, enunciating my full name.

"I hate being called Madeline, it's Maddie."

"Well I like calling you Madeline. Makes me feel special since I'm the only one," he told me, puffing out his chest a bit. "So what are you doing in Viridian? Do you live here, too considering you never did tell me where you lived."

"No," I replied. "And I didn't tell you-"

"Because you can't. I know, Madeline. You were always so secretive." He placed his hand on his chin like he was thinking. "I always wondered what your big secret about your family was. I had lots of theories such as they were really super heroes, or they were bank robbers, or secret agents."

"You have a crazy imagination."

"I know," he beamed. "But you didn't really give me much to go on. I traveled with you for four years and I barely know anything about you."

"So what brings you to the Pokemon Center?" I asked him.

"I have to heal these Pokemon and then I'm going to Pallet to drop them off to the researcher there. My dad wanted me to get them checked out for some genetic thing." I think all the color disappeared from my face because Grant suddenly got a worried look on his face. "You okay, Madeline?"

I didn't hear him, though, as I continued to stare off into space. He was going to Pallet. I was going to Pallet. He would see me there, or Gary would know who he was instantly from hearing about him from my mom. And then my dad would find out, and Grant would find out who my dad was. I never told either of them about each other, making my mom swear she would never say anything to my dad. If my dad had known, he would have flipped out and given away my secret immediately or made me come back home. I had never lied to my dad about anything as big as this, but this was about me and not my dad. Plus, my dad had traveled around with girls, so I didn't see the problem.

"Earth to Madeline," Grant said, waving his hand in my face.

"Sorry," I quickly replied, snapping back to reality. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I'm fine," I snapped a bit louder.

"Oh, okay," he replied, backing off. "So where are you headed next? If you have time, you should come to Pallet with me. It would be just like old times. Plus I heard Pallet is a really nice town."

"I don't know..," I hesitated.

"Please, Madeline? You wouldn't want to pass off the opportunity to meet this researcher. He's one of the best."

"Not if I already know him," I muttered under my breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. Fine. I'll go with you."

I guess maybe this was the time that I would finally introduce Grant to my family.

"Sweet! I knew I could convince you, Madeline. This is going to be great. I've really missed traveling with you, you know?" In a weird way, I had kind of missed him, too.

After retrieving our Pokemon we set foot to Pallet Town. I would have called and warned my mom about Grant coming with me, but I hadn't had the opportunity to do that without him being there when I called. As we made our way to Pallet Town, Grant updated me on everything he had been doing the past year and a half. His mom had made a full recovery and he would soon be able to continue traveling again. While we had been apart, Grant's team of Pokemon had increased with the addition of a Pikachu he had caught, and a Phanphy his uncle had sent him. When we were in Johto, we had stopped by to visit his uncle who ran a breeding center. Whenever a trainer gave Grant's uncle his or her Pokemon's egg to keep, he would sometimes send them to Grant to take care of.

Just around 2pm, we reached the hill that overlooked Pallet. As I looked down into the small town I had known all my life, I saw Gary's lab with its famous pinwheel, and all the little houses that were scattered around the town.

"I'll race you," Grant challenged me. "Winner has to pay for dinner."

"Deal," I shot back before we took off down the hill.

As we raced down the hill, the wind blowing in my face, I couldn't help but beam with laughter as things began to feel like they used to be. I was finally back in my home town and I would soon get to see my family and how they had changed over the years. As we raced through the town and to Gary's lab, we passed my Grandma's house where I thanked the heavens that she wasn't gardening outside. Knowing my way around Pallet and that I would soon come to pass my own house, I fell right and took a shortcut I had always used as a kid.

"Madeline!" Grant called. "Where are you going? You're going to get lost running off the path like that." I just ignored him, though, determined to win this race.

Sure enough, my shortcut hadn't let me down, and I soon found myself at the front door of Gary's lab. Within a few minutes, I heard Grant huffing and puffing as he finally reached the front door.

"I win!" I cheered.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever Madeline," he replied, waving me off.

Regaining his breath, he stepped in front of me and rang the doorbell. As the jingle of the doorbell rang through the hall, we waited patiently for someone to answer the door.

When the door opened, though, it wasn't Gary who was at the door. "Maddie?" my brother greeted me. "What are you-" Jumping through the door, I cut him off by covering his mouth and dragging him away from the door leaving a very confused Grant.

"Shhh! Don't say anything about us being related," I hissed. I was not about to let Noah ruin what I had worked so hard at.

"What are you going to do for me?"

"If you don't say anything, I'll let you use one of my Pokemon when you leave, " I said, trying to quickly come up with something on the spot.

"I want Growlithe."

"What" No! I love Growlithe."

"Well then it looks like we're related," he smirked.

"UGH! Fine! Take Growlithe," I huffed, giving in. I really needed him to keep my cover more than I needed Growlithe.

"I knew you'd see it my way." When had my brother become so manipulative?

"Sorry about that," I laughed nervously as Noah and I returned to the front door where Grant was waiting.

"Uh, no problem," he replied, a little fear in his voice. "Um, do you know where I could find the researcher? I have the Pokemon I was supposed to drop off."

"Yeah, follow me," Noah replied, leading the way to where Gary was working.

We were led to Gary's office where he was busy finishing up grooming his Arcanine. When he noticed our arrival, he looked just as surprised as Noah had been to see me. "Maddie? What are you doing here?"

"You know him?" Grant asked, his eyes widening in shock.

"Uh, no. He probably just recognizes me from T.V." I gave Gary a look that I hoped conveyed my message of, 'please don't say anything.' He must have gotten the message or my mom might have mentioned something to him because he quickly backtracked, saying he was surprised to see a trainer such as myself in Pallet.

After Grant handed Gary the Pokemon he was supposed to drop off, Noah gave us a tour of the lab starting with the research room and ending with the fields that held all the different Pokemon my dad, Gary and other trainers had collected over the years. Thankfully, Noah hadn't mentioned that some of these Pokemon belonged to the Pokemon Master.

"So what's your name? I'm Grant, and this is Madeline," Grant asked Noah. "You sure do know a lot about Pokemon."

"I'm Noah," he replied. "And yep! I help Gary out at the lab, so I've learned a lot over the years."

"That's really neat that you get an opportunity like that. When do you get to go on your own journey?"

"Two weeks!" Noah beamed with happiness. "I'm sick of waiting, though."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Grant sympathized.

"Well I'm really sorry to leave like this, but I really have to get back home before my mom gets mad again. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully I'll see you around?"

"Maybe," Grant chuckled.

"I can't wait to tell my dad about the cool trainers I met," Noah told us before he sprinted off in the direction of our house.

And as he sprinted away, it dawned on me what he had said. He was going to tell my dad about me being here, and I'm sure he wouldn't leave out the fact that I was with a boy. God, if my dad found out, he would lose it and I would be in deep trouble. It appeared as if to avoid this crisis, the only thing I could do was come clean and tell the truth. But as I followed Grant through the streets of Pallet, I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach at the thought of telling him the secret I had kept for so long.


	21. A Visit Home Part 2

**_A Visit Home Part 2_**

MADDIE: AGE 16

"So I guess I owe you dinner," Grant reminded me as we left the Pokemon Center. After going to Gary's lab, we had stopped there for a few hours to recover. It was about 5:00 now. "What would you like? I don't know what kind of places are here, but I'm sure we can find something good."

Unlike him, I knew all the restaurants that Pallet had to offer, my favorite being the little diner that served hamburgers and milkshakes. Whenever my dad and I would hang out, he would always take me there and we would split the largest milkshake the place had to offer. It seemed like that had been ages ago, and I couldn't help but want to relive that moment at least once. But now things had changed

"I know a place," I told him. "I heard it's supposed to be good."

"Really? What's it called?"

"Uh..uh.. Red's," I quickly answered.

"Red's? Well, okay. Give me the map and I'll find it."

"It's not on the map. It's a new place so they haven't put it there yet," I made up.

"Oh."

Before he could ask anymore questions about Red's, I started walking toward my house and away from the actually city part of Pallet. I could tell he was a little confused at first as the stores and restaurants disappeared and houses and hills started to appear.

"You sure you know where you're going?"

"I'm positive," I assured him, continuing to walk down the path.

When we reached the end of the path, I turned left and walked up the little path that led to my house. Stopping in front of the white picket fence, I observed my house from afar. Nothing had changed about it, it still being the little white house with a black roof and a big red door. The window to the kitchen was opened and I could see Noah with his back facing us as he sat at the kitchen table talking to someone else in the room. As I looked in the driveway, I let got a breath that I had been holding, relieved that my dad's car was not in the driveway. So far I was safe.

"This is a house," Grant stated.

"Thank you captain obvious," I teased, pulling him with me up to the front door. Taking a deep breath, I looked at him before I opened the door. "This is my house."

"You-you-live here?" he stuttered.

"This is where my family lives when they aren't fighting super villains."

"What?"

"I'm kidding," I told him, shaking my head as I walked into my house. He stayed where he was, trying to take it all in. "You coming?"

"Oh! Yeah," he quickly replied, stepping into the house as I shut the door behind him. "So do I get to know your last name now?"

"Not quite," I replied, tapping his nose with my finger.

As we were slipping off our shoes and setting down our stuff, I heard someone walk into the hallway, causing Grant to gasp a bit. "Hey! You're the kid from the lab! What are you doing in her house?"

"I live here," he stated.

"Wait," Grant blurted, flicking his finger back and forth between us. "Let me get this straight, you and Noah are brother and sister?"

"Duh," Noah scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Be nice, Noah," I snapped.

"Or what?" he shot back.

"I'll tell mom."

"Ooo. Well if you tell mom, I'll tell dad about your friend."

Had had me there, and he knew it. I huffed in anger as I stomped away into the kitchen. I was stopped in the kitchen, though, when I saw my mom at the sink finishing up some dishes. That must have been who Noah was talking to.

"Mom?" I asked, my voice cracking a bit.

She dropped the dish she was watching, the sound of it crashing into the sink echoing off the walls. "Maddie?" she asked, turning around. Before I could take another step, she ran over and engulfed me in a hug. "I can't believe you're here. I've missed you so much!" As much as I had missed my mom, I was a bit more concerned about the lack of air from her hug.

"Mom, I can't breath."

"Oh! I'm sorry," she apologized, jumping back a bit. Placing her hands on her face, she did that think all moms did. "Oh, look at you! You've grown so much. I can't believe it's been so long. You really should have visited more often."

"I know," I replied, letting my body sag a bit. I really had wanted to visit more before, but I didn't want to with Grant around.

"Well, don't worry about that. You're here now and that's what matters. Dinner is almost ready, would you like to join us?"

"I would love to," I grinned. "I brought my friend Grant, too."

"You did?" my mom asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Yeah, I, uh, ran into him in Viridian City. He had to come to Pallet to drop some stuff off to Gary so I came with him."

"Does he know?"

"No," I sighed. "Not yet. He met Noah, though. And that's all he knows."

"Oh, okay," she nodded. "Well I'll make sure to have Noah set out an extra plate. Speaking of which, where is that brother of yours?"

"In the hallway interrogating my friend."

"I'm sorry," she frowned at me. "Noah! Come set the table."

"But mom, I'm talking to a Pokemon Trainer!" he whined.

"_Noah Ryan_. Table. Now," she ordered. Thankfully my mom had not said my brother's last name.

"Coming," Noah groaned from the hallway, his feet dragging across the floor as he walked into the kitchen.

As Noah was walking into the kitchen, I noticed Grant wasn't behind him. "Where's Grant?"

"Bathroom," he stated before grabbing the pile of plates that were sitting on the counter.

My mom and I talked a bit about everything that had been going on since I was gone while Noah set the table, making a point of setting the plates on the table. Just as Noah was about to set the last plate, I heard the front door open and close, all blood draining from my face. There was only one other person who had yet to arrive and I'm pretty sure he just did.

"Dad's home," Noah said, a smug smile on his face. I just glared at him, seething with anger. When had my brother become such a brat?

"Holy Lugia!" I heard Grant gasp from the hallway. Great... it was definitely him. "You-you-you're him! You're the Pokemon Master!"

"Pika?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm him, but I don't know who you are," my dad replied.

"I'm Grant Rowser. I'm from Viridian City."

At this point in time, I had tiptoed to the door to the kitchen so I could look through the little crack without being seen.

"Are you a friend of Noah's?"

"What?" Grant asked, recoiling his hand. "No. I'm a friend of Madeline's."

"Maddie?" my dad asked very confused. "Did she tell you to stop by because she's not here? She's on her Pokemon Journey. I'd tell you when she's getting back, but I don't know."

"Uhh..." Grant stuttered, his mouth open like a Magikarp.

"Here, I'm sure my wife could help you. I bet she knows where you could find her."

"Your wife?" Grant squeaked.

"Ha ha," my dad laughed, something I hadn't heard in a long time. "I promise she's not that scary." Putting his arm around Grant's shoulder, he led him to the kitchen. I don't think it was my mom who Grant was afraid of. I think he had finally figured out my last name.

Snapping back from the door, I sprinted back to the table where my mom and brother were already seated. My brother, being the little brat he had become, just smirked at me from across the table, while my mom gave me a sympathetic smile, assuring me it was all going to be okay.

"Misty! I'm hom.-" My dad froze where he was, dropping the bag he was holding. "Maddie?"

"Hi dad?" I squeaked just like Grant had.

"DAD?" Grant blurted, his eyes widening to size of Pokeballs. "HE'S YOUR DAD? YOU'RE LAST NAME'S KETCHUM?"

"Yeah."

"And here I thought your family was super heroes."

"He likes to hallucinate," I told my family after they started giving Grant some confused looks about the superhero comment.

"What? I DO NOT hallucinate. If you hadn't kept this all from me than I wouldn't have to make up these theories, Madeline. Or should I say, Madeline Ketchum," he snickered at me.

"Come on Grant, super heroes? Have you even met one before?"

"No, but I bet unlike you they can actually read a map."

"Hey!" I snapped. "Enough with the map reading. It was one time!"

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for me you would be stuck in those woods forever. How about that time on our way to Fuchsia city?"

I just glared at him, holding my fist in the air ready to pounce if I needed to. "You were the one who got us lost, dimwit."

"Oh, ha ha, yeah," he laughed nervously as his face turned red. "But you got us lost plenty of other times. You either had the map upside down or you somehow got us chased by wild Pokemon. Remember the Gyarados?" You just HAD to go and make it mad." He threw his hands in the air. "Thank god I had my bike or I would have been a goner."

"Enough!" my mom yelled, her voice arching over ours.

Grant quickly went silent, looking at my mom who was fuming with anger from her chair. He didn't stay quiet for very long, though. "I'm sorry Ms. Ketchum, but your daughter can't read a map." I snapped my head back at him, glaring in hopes he would burst into flames on the spot.

"I know," my mom sighed. I quickly turned to her, my mouth gaping in shock at my mom's betrayal. Grant on the other hand was clutching his stomach as he fell over laughing. Even Noah had started laughing from where he was sitting. "And I'm sorry you had to deal with that for four years."

"Mom!" I whined.

"Wait," my dad's voice broke through. "how long did you travel with Maddie?"

Uh oh. I was busted.

"I met Madeline when she was lost in the woods outside Vermilion. That was about six years ago. I traveled with her all through Kanto and Johto, but I had to go back home after my mom got sick, so that was a total of four years. I ran into her in Viridian City and since we were both headed to Pallet, she tagged along with me. I didn't know she lived here, though."

"Four years?" I could sense my dad was starting to get angry.

"Yep," Grant nodded. Dummy. Why couldn't he keep his big mouth shut?

"Dad, I can explain-"

"You never told him?" Grant asked me, wide eyed. "Do you keep secrets from your family, too?"

"No!"

Glaring, he folded his arms over his chest. "Yeah right. I bet your lying. You had no problem lying to me for six years, so I don't see why keeping secrets from your family is any different. Are you ashamed of whom you are? Because I'm pretty sure most kids would be proud to be the daughter of the Pokemon Master."

"What? No!" I cried. I was never ashamed of who I was. "You wouldn't understand."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I thought I was your friend Madeline. I could understand if you wanted to keep your identity from me, but I didn't know I wasn't important enough for you to tell your family about me." The glare that was once on his face, quickly turned to a look of hurt and a little betrayal. "I'm going to pass on dinner. I'll be at the Pokemon Center until tomorrow if there's anything else you need to tell me that you forgot to before."

"Grant, wait!" I called after him, but he had already walked away, the door slamming shut behind him.

Now that Grant had left, my dad was free to express his anger. And express he did. "Four years, Maddie?" he growled. Sensing his anger, Pikachu leaped off his shoulder. "You kept this for me for four years? Did you know about this, Misty?"

"Yes I did," my mom nodded in reply.

I think my dad looked more shocked that my mom had known about this. She didn't usually keep stuff from him like this, so he was a bit taken back. Instead of getting mad at my mom, though, he turned back to me.

"Madeline Claire Ketchum. You better start explaining." Normally I would try and explain to him, but I could care less what he thought because in my eyes, this was his fault.

"No!" I shouted causing Pikachu to run under the table. "This is all your fault!" I screamed, pointing my finger at him. My entire family stopped what they were doing, shocked by my sudden out burst. "If you hadn't gone and become the Pokemon Master then I wouldn't have had to hide who I was from everyone! I wouldn't have to lie about who my family was or constantly worry about if someone liked me for me or just because my dad was famous. And now the only real friend I ever had is gone! And it's all your fault!"

Pushing past him, I ran out of the kitchen and upstairs to my room, slamming the door shut and locking it behind me. For once I had finally found a friend I could trust and who understood why I kept things hidden, but because of my dad he was gone. I had never hated my dad and his title as much as I did now.


	22. To Be A Dad

**_To Be A Father_**

MADDIE: AGE 16**_  
><em>**

_It's all your fault. _The words repeated themselves in my brain, not letting me forget what my daughter had yelled at me. I had been a little surprised to see her in the kitchen, but I was still happy to see her. After that, though, things just went down hill. What had happened to then ten-year old girl who had left six years ago?

"Ash?" Misty called. Her and Noah were still sitting at the table while Pikachu remained hiding. "It's not your fault."

"What?" I asked, snapping my head toward her.

She sighed and stood up from her chair, walking over to me. "Noah, can you?"

"Don't have to ask me twice," he replied, grabbing his plate. "Come on Pikachu. We can eat in my room." Crawling out from under the table, Pikachu hopped on Noah's shoulder and they walked out of the kitchen and upstairs.

Once she was sure that Noah was gone, Misty turned back to look at me. "It's not your fault," she repeated, placing her arms on my shoulders.

"I don't know Misty," I scoffed. "She was pretty sure who was to blame."

Frowning in sympathy, Misty just looked at me not sure what to say to me. "Ash, she-"

"Why didn't you tell me, Mist? Why would you hide something like that from me?" My wife and best friend for thirty years had kept something huge from me for six years. I just didn't understand what made her think that there was a reason not to tell me. If I had known, then this whole mess would have been avoided.

Her hand slid down off my shoulder and she flicked her eyes at the ground for a few seconds, her red hair falling in front of her face. "You're very protective, Ash."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It's not. And I'm sorry I lied to you, but I did it for your own good. I know you, Ash. If you found out Maddie had been traveling with a boy you would have jumped to conclusions. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you sent someone to spy on her or told her to come back home."

"Is that what you really think of me?"

"What? No," she gasped. "Ash you're not listening to me." I could tell that she was trying hard to keep her temper in check, but I knew that if this escalated anymore she would lose it. Her lips were pursed and her eyes narrowed as she continued talking to me. "Ash you made Daisy call you to report if Maddie was traveling with anyone."

"Yeah, and I should have hired Team Rocket to follow her." I knew that my daughter could handle them, but it would at least give me someone who could check on my daughter.

"See what I mean?" she snapped. "You can't even trust your own daughter, Ash."

"Oh, and I suppose you trust her?"

"I do. Maddie's a smart kid. I mean come on, Ash. Until now she never told Grant who she was or who her family was. She may be a bit too skeptical, but at least she was careful."

I could understand what Misty was trying to explain to me, but that didn't make what Maddie did any less serious. "But she lied to me, Mist!" I reminded her. "And you did, too. How can I trust her when she lied to me?"

"I really think you're blowing this whole lying thing out of proportion. I told you I was sorry, and in case you've forgotten, Ash, most of the people you traveled with were girls."

"But he's a boy, Misty," I argued. "A teenage boy. I know how they can think and I don't want Maddie to be around that. You know how hard it was for me not to stare at you sometimes? Heck, I loved flirting with you. Just look at Brock, Mist. If that's not enough of a warning, than I don't know what is?" But instead of getting mad or hitting me, she smiled back at me and stared laughing a mischievous grin on her face. "What's so funny?"

"You," she giggled. "While I'm flattered that you found me irresistible, I must say you are overreacting just a bit. While it's totally okay for a dad to feel protective of his little girl, not every guy out there is like Brock. She has a good judge of character, Ash, so I trust her in who she picks as a friend."

"But-"

"Plus, if she's anything like you, she's got at least two more years until she even thinks about guys that way." She laughed some more as I frowned, slightly insulted by her comment. "From what Maddie's told me about Grant, I think you would like him. He seems like a sweet boy. Nothing like this dense boy I met." Ouch. She loved insulting me too much.

"I'm pretty sure you married him, Mist."

"I know. And I have two wonderful children because of it." I guess that was true. "But right now I'm not happy with the way Maddie acted after Grant left. That was completely uncalled for, and I just don't know what to say to her. It just makes me even angrier."

"I know." Just like when Misty had first talked to me, Maddie's words began repeated themselves over and over again. I needed to get out of here. "I'm going for a walk."

"What?"

"I just-I just need to be alone." Instead of protesting, she just nodded, letting me walk out the door.


	23. A Visit Home Part 3

**_A Visit Home Part 3_**

MADDIE: AGE 16

As I paced around my room, trying to figure out how to fix everything, I spotted a blue folder sitting on my desk. I knew I recognized it from somewhere, but right now, I couldn't put my finger on it. Figuring it would be a good distraction, I walked over to my desk and opened the folder. Inside were papers I had writen from the Pokemon Trainer class my parents made me take when I was 9. As I flipped through the papers about different types of pokemon and different league rules, I came across a paper I had written about who my hero was. As I glanced over the paper, I felt this wave of anger at myself for how I had behaved. For once, my own actions had made me feel ashamed to have the last name of Ketchum. That wasn't how my parents had raised me, and this certainly wasn't living like my dad. Even seven years later, I still idolized him for everything I had written in this paper, but right now I hated myself. I had never showed my dad what I had written, thinking at the time it was too mushy, but now I wanted to share this with him more than anything. Snatching the piece of paper from the folder, I raced out of my room to make amends.

When I got to the kitchen, my mom was sitting by herself, a cup of tea sitting in front of her.

"Mom? Where's dad?"

"He went for a walk."

"Oh. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No. Maddie, I can't talk to you right now. I'm sorry," she told me, turning back to her tea.

"What?" I gasped at her, the paper slipping through my fingers and onto the floor.

My mom put her head on her hand before she turned to face me again. "Maddie, I don't think you understand the seriousness of what you did."

"What do you mean?" I understood that lying to my dad about traveling with Grant wasn't the right thing to do, but it seemed as if she was talking about something else.

"Maddie, your father worked very hard to get where he is now. He's sacrificed a lot to achieve his dream. A dream he's had since he was a kid, Maddie."

"But how does that have to do with what I did?"

"You have no right to blame your father for working hard to achieve his dream just because it may inconvenience you every now and then. You had plenty of time to tell Grant about your family, and it was your decision to wait until now to say something. I know I told you to be careful about who you told, but I think if you travel with someone for that long, they have clearly earned your trust and deserve to know the truth. You lost your friend because of what you did, Maddie. Not because of your father. We did not raise you this way, Maddie and I expected better from you."

My mom stood up carrying her tea and walked out of the room, leaving me standing there on my own. As I picked up the paper that had fallen to the floor, all I could think was, _what had I done? _I knew that I couldn't do much if my dad wasn't here, so the next thing I had to do was fix things with Grant. Folding up the paper and placing it in my pocket, I ran our the door and sprinted as fast as I could to the Pokemon Center.

By the time I had reached it, I was completely out of breath, bending over so I could recover before I walked inside. Walking through the sliding doors, I headed for the front desk, determined to fix what I had ruined.

"May I help you?" Nurse Joy asked in that sweet voice of hers.

"Could you tell me which room Grant Rowser is in?"

Nodding, she started typing on her computer, clicking the mouse a few times before she returned to me. "He's in room 22."

"Thank you."

As I ran down the hallway, the numbers started to get higher until I reached room 22. Taking a deep breath and reminding myself I could do this, I knocked twice on the door. It was pretty late, so I was pretty sure he was in his room. I just hopped I was right.

"Come in!" he yelled from the other side of the door.

Turning the knob, I opened the door and walked in. As I looked around the room, I saw that he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Just as I was starting to worry I was beginning to hear voices, he walked out of the bathroom, dressed in his pajama pants. If my dad wasn't mad enough about me having traveled with Grant, he would kill me if he found out I was in a room with a boy who had no shirt on.

"Oh, it's you," he stated, clearly unhappy to see me. "You forget to tell me something?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, I can't wait," he replied, rolling his eyes. "What is it now?"

"I'm sorry," I told him. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I'm sorry for lying to you about who I was and not telling my dad about you. I was sacred. Scared that you would get mad and leave or no longer like me for me, but only because my dad was famous. You were my first friend after I left, and I have enjoyed traveling with you. Without you I would have spent days lost in forests or walking past the same rock. I missed you when you had to go home. I traveled with these two other kids, but it wasn't the same. I just felt like a third wheel. When I ran into you in Viridian, I was so happy to see you."

"I thought you were different, you know?" he replied, posing a question of his own. "When I left Viridian I had made it a goal of mine to find somebody to travel with since I didn't want to travel alone. I ran into a bunch of other kids, but they all just annoyed me. They were either too cocky or blabbered on about how they were going to become the next Pokemon Master. When I ran into you, though, you did none of that. In fact, you wouldn't tell me anything about yourself. I don't know why, but your secrecy interested me and I wanted to know more about you. And then when I talked about whom I wanted to meet some day, you didn't react like most people do. You acted like you knew nothing about the Pokemon Master. But I guess it turns out that the whole time you actually knew everything anyone could ever want to know about him."

"Grant-" but I didn't know what else to say.

"Looking back, I guess it all made sense. How all the gym leaders knew who you were before you even introduced yourself, and how you were able to get us tickets to that sold out water ballet Celedon." He frowned at me, but then his frown quickly turned into a big grin. "But it's okay, Madeline. I forgive you because I would love to have my traveling buddy back. And I promise that I won't treat you any different just because of whom your dad is. But I must say, I am surprised that the Ash Ketchum's daughter can't find her way through a forest."

"You know?" I told him. "Believe it or not, I got that trait from my dad. He always got everyone lost when he was in charge of the map."

He laughed, shaking his head. "That explains a lot."

"Thanks for forgiving me Grant. I promise no more secrets, okay?"

"Works for me."

"Hey Grant?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stop by tomorrow before you leave? I want to properly introduce my family."

"Sure," he smiled.

With a wave goodbye and an agreed upon time, I left the center and started walking back to my house. As I was walking by the opening to the forest, I spotted my dad walking out of it. Stopping in my tracks, I waited for him to notice me. When he did, he didn't look so happy to see me. He was nice enough to acknowledge me, though.

"Maddie, shouldn't you be at home?" he asked. "Does your mother know you're out here?"

"No. I was looking for you," I explained, looking down at me feet. "I have something I need to give you."

"Oh?"

Slipping my hand into my pocket, I pulled out the folded piece of paper that contained the words I couldn't seem to say out loud. I handed him the piece of paper and watched as he unfolded it, flicking his eyes back and forth between the paper and I. "I wrote it when I was nine, but it still explains how I feel now." When he finally rested his eyes on the paper, they moved from left to right as he started reading what I had written.

It felt a bit weird to be standing there in complete silence waiting for him to finish reading, but I preoccupied my time by looking everywhere but at him. While I was staring at a rock, I suddenly felt my body being pulled forward before I hit something soft. Next I felt a splash of water hit my face followed by another one. I was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to rain tonight, but looking up to make sure, I saw that the source of water was not the sky, but my dad. Since when did my dad cry?

"Dad? Are you crying?" I asked him, making sure to make my voice soft.

Pulling away from the hug he had trapped me in, he used his free hand to wipe away the tears that were clearly there before. "The Pokemon Master doesn't cry, Maddie," he told me. "Now let's get you home before your mom starts worrying and calls the police."

"Okay," I laughed as I walked beside him.

"Can I keep this?" he asked, gesturing to the essay I had written.

"Uh, yeah."

"Good, because I would have taken it anyway."

"I figured," I shrugged.

As we walked side-by-side back to our home, I couldn't help but think that I had fixed things all on my own without the help of my mom or dad. I was proud of my independence, feeling like I was living like my dad for the first time that day. Tomorrow I would properly introduce my family to Grant and maybe, just maybe, things would turn out to be okay.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't know how I feel about this last part of the story, so I may tweak it later. If you have any suggestions about how to make it better, fill free to let me know. There will be one more <em>A Visit Home<em> stories before I return to the short stories. **


	24. A Visit Home Part 4

**_A Visit Home Part 4_**

MADDIE: AGE 16

NOTE: This story does not start out as first person, but eventually changes to that and remains that way. This is a long one, too. 

"Thanks again, Professor Oak. My dad will be really happy with these results." Taking the Pokeballs from Gary, Grant placed them in the little pouch he had brought to carry them in. Before he left, though, he had one more question for the professor. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," Gary replied, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head.

"Do you know how to get to the Ketchum's house from here?" the boy asked him. He had traveled with Maddie the day before, but he just couldn't remember how to get there even though Pallet was a fairly small town. He knew he couldn't say anything to Maddie, though, because she would just tease him about having gotten lost and forgotten the way to her house. "Madeline wanted me to stop by before I left."

The smirk that normally presented itself on Gary's face was replaced with a smile as he let out a small chuckle. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about the boy that sparked his interest. "Sure kid." Walking over to the window that looked out onto the main road of Pallet, he waited for the boy to walk over before pointing out the path he would need to take to reach the Ketchum's house.

"Thank you very much," Grant said as he listened carefully to Gary's directions.

"No problem," Gary chuckled. Just before Grant was about to leave, though, Gary figured it might be in his best interest to let Grant in on a little secret about the people he was going to meet. "Don't be scared, kid. Despite what you may think, Ash is just a big softie. If you have any water Pokemon, make sure to mention that to Misty because she loves them. Finally, if Ash gives you any problems, just come to me. I'll straighten him out for you."

"You sure know a lot," Grant commented.

"Ash and I grew up together as kids, and we were rivals. So, yeah, I know a lot about him."

"Wow. Okay, thank you!"

"Oh!" Gary called, stopping Grant from leaving again. "One more thing. Misty doesn't like to be called Mrs. Ketchum, so make sure to call her Mrs. Red. She'll love you if you do that. And take these as a house warming gift." So he wanted to mess with the kid a bit? It was in his nature and nobody could stop him from doing that.

"Ketchup packets?" Grant asked puzzled.

"The Ketchums love ketchup."

With final words of advice, Grant left the lab, following the path Gary had previously pointed out to him.

* * *

><p><em>The Ketchum House<em>

The members of the Ketchum family were sitting at the kitchen table waiting patiently while Maddie explained what was about to happen very soon. Well, some of them.

"Maddie," Noah whined, leaning on the table his head resting on his hands. "I don't see why I need to be here. I already met your boyfriend. I don't need to meet him again."

"He's not my boyfriend, Noah," Maddie quickly corrected him. "And you're here because I'm going to properly introduce him to everyone, and you are part of this family."

"Whoop de do," he rolled his eyes, sarcasm in his voice.

"_Noah_," his mom scolded him. "Please do this for your sister."

Ignoring her brother's whining, Maddie directed her attention to her father who was sitting in the chair opposite to Noah, his loyal Pikachu sitting on his shoulder. She knew her father was here because she had practically begged him to, but she couldn't help but not notice the slight look of annoyance in his eyes. He had been the hardest for her to convince to attend this little introduction to Grant. Although they were back on the right footing, the thought of her bring a boy home still unnerved him. She didn't have any time to talk to him, though, because when she opened her mouth the doorbell rang.

Before going to answer the door, she made sure to say the one thing to her dad that she felt was most crucial. "Dad, please be nice."

* * *

><p><em>Grant's POV<em>

Having correctly followed Gary's directions, (I did have amazing directional skills after all) I found myself standing once again on the doorstep of the Ketchum's house. This time, though, things were much different. I knew about the famous family that lived in this house and how much more important making a good impression was. I stared at the red door, trying to build up the courage to hit the little button that would announce my arrival. It wasn't working very well, though, because all I felt was tremendous amounts of nerves. I had been fine when Madeline had first brought me here, but that was before I knew the one person I had dreamed about meeting lived here. Even though she had come clean about the Pokemon Master being her father, I didn't really know much about him aside form what I read in magazines and stuff.

Closing my eyes, I pressed the button and stood there shaking in nerves as I listened to the little melody of the doorbell. What if he answered the door? My first reaction to seeing him hadn't been what I had planned. I had always told myself that if I ever did meet the Pokemon Master, I wouldn't freak out like some crazy fan, but instead I had exclaimed, "Holy Lugia" and stuttered like some idiot. With a second shot, though, I had to redeem myself. After all, just like Gary had told me, he was just a big softie. Even though he was famous, I had to remind myself that Ash Ketchum was just a regular person.

"Grant!" Maddie greeted me, opening the door for me. "Come in, come in. I'm glad you decided to stop by. I was getting worried you got lost," she smirked.

"No way, Madeline," I assured her. "I had to stop by the lab and pick up the Pokemon I had dropped off."

She just laughed at me before turning around and walking away. Throwing off my shoes and setting down my backpack, I followed her into the kitchen where I saw her family seated at the table. When I entered the kitchen, they all stared at me with very different expressions; her mom with a caring smile, her brother with a look of boredom, and her dad with well... I didn't really know how to categorize that one. I can tell you it wasn't happy.

I quickly averted my eyes from her dad and back to her. She was standing in between her family and I, a reassuring smile on her face. I think I must have looked really freaked out or fearful because she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward her, so that I was closer to her family. I felt my nerves increase when out of the corner of my eye, I saw her dad flinch, his Pikachu jumping at the sudden movement.

"Grant," Madeline called my name, causing me to jump a bit. "I would like you to meet my family." I didn't say anything to her statement, waiting for her to start telling me who everyone was, even though I already knew. I think she also was waiting for me to say something, because the next thing she said caught me off guard. "Do you remember their names?" Great, she was testing me. Thankfully her family was famous enough that I had known their names for years.

"Of course," I replied, adding some cockiness to my voice. I was going to get a 100% on this test. "That's your brother, Noah," I told her, pointing to Noah who just rolled his eyes. "That's your mom, Misty or Mrs. Red. And your dad... your dad is...Did I say something wrong?" My hand fell back to my side as my voice trailed off when I saw the glares that appeared on the faces of Madeline's parents. When I turned to look at Madeline, her eyes were narrowed at me and her arms crossed. Any chance I had of redeeming myself had just went down the drain. I don't know how, but I had just ticked off the one person you never wanted mad at you. And boy was she mad.

"What did you just call me," Misty asked me.

Now most people who had unfortunately found themselves at the receiving end of the ex leader of the Cerulean City gym's notorious temper, would have kept their mouths shut. But as I failed to remember this, thinking I had done nothing wrong, I idiotically repeated what I said.

"Mrs. Red," I squeaked.

That was clearly the wrong answer because the look on the Pokemon Master's face quickly morphed into one I could clearly identify as furious. Her brother didn't help my case much either, having started laughing hysterically from his spot at the table.

"Maddie, you're boyfriend's an idiot," he pointed at me. "Way to go dummy, you just made my mom mad."

Although Madeline's mom being mad at me had me worried, I couldn't help but think about the other thing Noah had said. I knew he had only called me her boyfriend to tease her, but I couldn't help blushing a bit at the accusation.

"What was your name again young man?" Mr. Ketchum demanded to know as he glared at me.

"Nice knowing you," Noah smirked before he stood up. "To bad you'll die never having gotten to hook up with my sister. Unless, you already have that is. . ." He ran out of the kitchen after that.

Wait a minute? Wasn't this kid supposed to be almost ten? How did he even know about this stuff? I think Noah's dad was hoping I would drop dead on the spot because, just by the look he gave me as he gripped one of the Pokeballs on his waist, his son's comment did not rest well with him.

I didn't know what it was that I had done wrong, but that wasn't going to keep me from tying to apologize like crazy. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Red! I don't know what it is I said to make you mad, but I promise you that if I offended you in anyway I had no intention of doing so. I-I-"

"Stop calling her that you idiot!" Madeline yelled at me, her face looking just as angry as her parents

I quickly stopped my blabbering, my head snapping in her direction, confused as to why she was yelling at me. My face blank of emotion, I looked at her for a few seconds before I realized what she had been yelling at me for. "Oh, you mean Mrs. Red?"

"You dimwit!" she shouted, her face as red as a tomato. Stopping over to me, she punched my arm as hard as she could. _Ow_, I thought, rubbing my arm tenderly as she stormed out of the room leaving me alone with her parents. Wait. Leaving me alone? She was leaving me alone with her parents! Her parents, who were throwing daggers at me with their eyes, probably planning my death.

"Madeline, come back. Don't leave me," I whispered under my breath.

For a good few seconds, I remained fixated on the spot where Madeline had just been standing. Not a word was said by either of her parents, but that didn't distract me from the fact that their silence probably should be taken as a bad thing. Laughing nervously, I hesitantly turned around to look at her parents, secretly praying that when I turned around, they would be laughing along with me. Yeah, that didn't happen.

"So, I heard you love water Pokemon," I told her mom, trying to change the topic. "What a coincidence? I really like them, too. In fact I have a Staryu and a Lanturn. Water Pokemon are the best," I finished, throwing in a cheeky smile. Maybe I could redeem myself with flattery. Gary had said to mention water Pokemon.

My smile quickly faded, though, when the expression on their faces remained the same. "_Young man_," the Pokemon Master growled. "Do you think it's funny to insult my wife like this?" Uh-oh. Now the Pokemon Master probably hated my guts. (Although, I'm pretty sure he already did) Based on the look he gave me when I came here, though, I have a feeling he didn't really like me to begin with. This obviously didn't make it any better.

"Insult your wife?" I gasped. "No! Never! I never meant to insult her. I just...Someone told me that she didn't like to be called Mrs. Ketchum, and I really wanted to leave a good impression on you guys." I figured that telling them the truth was the best thing I could do for myself in this situation.

"Who told you that?" Misty snapped at me. Hopefully whoever it was would get the majority of her anger. I was just an innocent bystander.

"Uh, Professor Oak," I told them.

"Professor Oak is retired, young man."

Apparently this was not the right answer, but none the less, I didn't understand. I had JUST seen the professor so I'm pretty sure he hadn't retired in the last half hour. As I racked my brain trying to figure out what he might have been talking about, it finally hit me.

"No, no no!" I cried, waving my hands wildly in the air. "The CURRENT one. You know, Gary Oak?"

At first I had thought I had said the wrong thing again because Misty jumped out of her seat, her fist balled up and her temper rising to new heights. To make it even worse, she stared yelling about how she was going to kill him. When she started running toward me (I hate to admit it), I cowered in fear, covering my face with my hands.

"Please don't hurt me," I begged her, but she blew right past me and into the hallways leaving me alone with...with him.

Gulping in fear, I uncovered my face so that I could see if he would start trying to attack me, too. When I looked up, though, he was standing a few feet ahead of me, scratching the back of his head with his hand.

"Uh, sorry about that," he laughed nervously. What had happened to his raging anger that was there just a moment ago? "I guess this was just a big misunderstanding."

"Yes," I quickly agreed, nodding my head really fast. If I agreed with him, this would help me. I mean it really was a misunderstanding after all. "Just one big misunderstanding. I...uh... I really didn't mean to offend your wife."

"I know," he replied, even smiling a bit. "For your safety, don't listen to Gary anymore. He loves to irritate my wife, and calling her Red is one of those things he does."

"Oh." I watched him carefully waiting for him to say just kidding. As I stared at him, though, what he had said yesterday stuck with me. "No offense, Mr. Ketchum, but I thought you said your wife wasn't very scary?"

This caused him to smile and laugh a bit at me, causing me to feel some instant relief. "It's okay...uh.-"

"Grant."

"Right, Grant," he nodded to himself. "Anyways, it's okay. Believe it or not she used to scare me as a kid, too. Still does actually."

What? "But you married her," I reminded him.

"Ha ha, yeah. I know. Sometimes I still wonder why," he laughed to himself. Reaching his hand up to the Pikachu on his shoulder, he scratched it under his chin. "Right, Pikachu?"

The Pokemon just rolled his eyes, muttering a, "Pika."

"Well I'll go talk to Maddie for you. I'm sure once she knows this was just one big misunderstanding, she'll cool down. I'm sorry she punched you like that," he apologized. "I can't promise it won't happen again, though. If she's anything like my wife, well...well...I'm sorry. I feel your pain, though. Literally."

"You mean this wasn't a one time thing?" I gawked. "I don't want to be a human punching bag."

"I'll be back," he announced. "Pikachu here can keep you company."

The little Pokemon leaped off his shoulder and onto the floor. We both turned to watch his owner leave when I suddenly remembered something. "But I don't-" I cried, but he was already out of ear-shot, my voice falling on deaf ears. "-understand Pikachu language." Sighing at the unfortunate position I had been placed in, I turned back to the electric Pokemon in front of me. I would admit, he was really cute, and I had always loved Pikachus.

"Pika?" he asked me, cocking his head to the side.

"Uh..." I stuttered, not understanding what he said. "I'm Grant."

"Pika!" he growled, little sparks dancing around his body as he crouched down in a defensive stance.

"You know what? I'll just wait over here" I told him as I carefully walked backwards to an empty chair. He just continued to growl at me, the sparks increasing in quantity. Suddenly though, he stopped growling and sniffed the air in front of him. It was in that moment that he looked at me before he leaped onto my lap and started sniffing my pockets. Reaching into the pocket he was sniffing, I pulled out what Gary had given me, claiming to give them to the Ketchums as a gift. "Is this what you want?" I asked Pikachu, showing him the ketchup packets in my hand.

"Piiiiiika!" he exclaimed with glee, his little brown eyes sparkling like diamonds. I guess the answer to that question was yes.

"Here you go." I opened one of the packets and handed it to him before he jumped off my lap and started licking the packet, a look of pure content on his face

Phew. At least I had managed to make one of the Ketchums happy. Now for the other four. Why were pleasing famous people so hard?


	25. On the Road To?

**_On the Road To...? _**

MADDIE: AGE 16

NOAH: AGE 10****

After Maddie made up with her little boyfriend for the billionth time, he finally managed to stay for a whole meal without being chased off or totally embarrassing himself. Oh, and for the record, I don't care what she says. Grant's totally her boyfriend or she at least wants him to be. I mean, come on, it's pretty obvious they like each other. Oh well, my sister's kind of oblivious like that. My mom claims it's because she's like my dad, but I think it's just a Maddie thing. Excuse me, I mean _Madeline._ Blah.

Yeah, so anyways, the day I had been waiting for since, like, I knew what it was, had finally arrived. I could finally go on my own Pokemon adventure and kick some serious butt. I knew my dad was the Pokemon Master and all, but one day I would achieve my own dream and take his place, continuing the reign of the Ketchums.

For this special occasion, my mom had actually let me pick out what I wanted to wear without criticizing my choice, something she didn't do very often. After much deliberation, I had decided on jeans, a white shirt and my dad's old hoodie he wore in Hoenn. (I had always thought it was really cool) I was almost tempted to wear a hat so I would feel a part of my crazy hat-wearing family, but I decided against it, instead choosing to use the money on a good pair of tennis shoes. Since I was probably going to walking everywhere, I wanted to make sure I was comfortable.

Amazingly while I was gone getting my Pokemon from Uncle Gary, my dad hadn't spent his time pacing back and forth worrying over how long I was taking. If anything, I was relieved that he wasn't freaking out like he had when Maddie left. Unfortunately, she and her stupid boyfriend were still here. Since it was so close to me leaving, she had stuck around and, after getting the okay from his parents, Grant had stayed in the Pallet Town center while he waited. My mom had offered for him to stay at our house, but my dad quickly nixed that idea much to my dismay. I was looking forward to interrogating him and sharing embarrassing things about my sister.

"I'm home!" I yelled, opening the front door. I heard the kitchen chair scratch against the floor as my mom stood up and met me in the hallway.

"Hi, sweetie," she greeted me. "What did you pick? You picked a Squirtle, right?"

My poor mom. She was still dead set on me picking a water Pokemon just because her and I had been deemed similar. While people said Maddie was the spinning image of my dad, I was the spinning image of my mom.

"Sorry, Mom," I apologized. She frowned a bit, but that quickly faded away as she smiled at me still interested in what I had picked. "I picked a Charmander."

"That's great, Noah. I just hope that when it evolves, you have better luck with it than your father did. Thankfully you aren't irresponsible like he was."

"I heard that, Mist," my dad said walking up behind her.

"Well it's true," she teased him.

"Is not."

"Is, too," she huffed, setting her hands on her hips.

I just walked into the kitchen where my sister was finishing up breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I loved my parents, but they really did act like kids sometimes. They seriously could find anything-and I mean anything- to argue about. The other day they even started arguing about that darn bike again. Seriously? I was considering just buying my mom a bike and telling my dad to just shut it and and say it was from him. Anyways, the weird thing was that, somewhere in the middle of their arguing, they would suddenly start flirting with each other and than end up being all lovey dovey. When I had tried to ask my Uncle Brock about it, he just shrugged, telling me that my parents were weird like that. I had to agree with him.

"What'd you pick?" Maddie asked me, looking up from her bowl of cereal.

"A Charmander," I reported.

"Ooo, that's cool," she awed. "Looks like that's one Pokemon. Now all you need is...is...I forget how many there are."

"I don't know either, but you are mistaken Miss Madeline," I corrected her.

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "And how am I mistaken. I'm can count, dimwit."

"In case you've forgotten, you promised me a Growlithe if I kept your secret from your little boyfriend," I snickered as she starting fuming in anger. She couldn't deny what she had promised me. "Don't worry, though, I already got it from Uncle Gary."

"You..." she threatened, shaking her fist at me, but she had nothing to say.

"All right you two," my mom said as her and my dad walked into the kitchen.

And just as my parents were walking back into the kitchen, the dreaded doorbell rang.

"That's Grant!" my sister beamed, hopping of her chair, but not before she stopped at the door and tried to backtrack. "I mean I'll get the door."

I just shook my head at her retreating figure, thinking how pitiful it was for her to continue denying what we all knew. Sure enough, though, my sister walked back into the kitchen, Grant following behind her. Since we were all planning on leaving today, he was all packed up and ready to go. Thankfully, though, I wouldn't have to travel with them as I was going to go on my OWN journey.

"You kids ready?" my mom asked, grabbing her camera.

Ugh...I hated pictures. Just this once, because I loved my mom, I would put up with it. After this, I wouldn't know how long it would be before I was able to come back and visit her. Although I was ready to go on my journey really badly, I couldn't help feeling a little sad at the thought of not seeing my mom and dad everyday. It had been weird at first when Maddie left, but now there would be nobody. Similar to when Maddie left, we took a bunch of pictures with each family member and this time, for the family photo, Grant took it for us instead of Pikachu.

"Now make sure you and Noah call us when you get to Violet City," my dad instructed us.

Wait a minute. I wasn't even going to Johto, so how was I supposed to call him with Maddie there. I think my sister was thinking the same thing because she gave my dad a really confused look.

"But we're going to Johto and Noah's staying in Kanto. We were going to split up once we got to Viridian," Maddie explained. "How are we supposed to call you together?"

My dad looked at us kind of funny and then turned to my mom who looked just as puzzled. "You didn't tell them, Mist?" he asked.

"I thought you did," she whispered back, although it wasn't really a whisper because we could clearly hear them.

"Didn't tell us what?" I asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Your father wants you to travel with Maddie for a while," my mom told me.

"WHAT?" Maddie and I shouted at the same time.

"That's not fair, Dad!" she wailed.

"Yeah! You let her go off by herself, so why can't I?" I demanded to know.

"I really want you to travel with Maddie, Noah," he told me. "She could really help you out."

Help me out? Yeah. Freaking. Right. I knew EXACTLY what my dad was up to. I was only 'having' to travel with Maddie so I could be his little spy who would report back to him about Maddie and Grant. This was not fair. I wanted to go on my own journey without my sister. All she would do anyway is complain and get us lost in the woods. Plus, it was pretty clear she didn't want me around. I had a feeling I knew why, too.

"You can't fool me, Dad. I know exactly what you're up to." I glared at him, hoping that maybe I could change his mind. My efforts were futile, though.

"Yeah!" Maddie echoed. She had no idea what he was doing. "I don't have time to help him."

"She's right, Dad," I said agreeing with her. She seemed kind of shocked that I had agreed with her. "She'll be too busy hooking up with her boyfriend." I just loved making my sister and Grant feel really awkward. It always got a reaction from my dad, too, which was equally satisfying. He was WAY too protective of my sister sometimes. This whole me going with her my prime example.

"You little twerp! This is all your fault!" she sneered. "I should have taken you back to the baby store when I had the chance."

"Babies don't come from the baby store, Maddie," I rolled my eyes. "Even I know that."

"You know what I mean."

"Maddie! Noah! Enough!" my dad raised his voice. "Maddie, Noah's traveling with you, and Noah, if you want to go on your Pokemon journey, you will go with Maddie. End of discussion. There will be no debating this." So much for being the cool dad.

"Fine," I grumbled.

This was not how I intended my journey to be, but if I wanted to go on one, this was my only option. At least now I could maybe take the time to tell Grant all those embarrassing stories about Maddie I had planned to earlier. So as we set off for Viridian, Maddie and I glaring at each other while Grant remained silent, I couldn't help but think how much this really sucked. I really hated being the younger sibling. Even though my mom was also the youngest, she at least had gotten to go on her own journey. Now that I think about it, I should have just stormed off then and there, proclaiming that I would not return until I became a master of some kind. It had worked for my mom , so why not me? As we reached the edge of the forest that led to Viridian where we would catch our ferry, I started plotting my plan of how I would ditch my sister and go on my journey. I didn't care what my dad had said; I was fine on my own. It was my sister who needed me more than I needed her.


	26. The Birthday Cake Disaster

**_A Birthday Cake Disaster_**

****MADDIE: AGE 8

NOAH: AGE 1 1/2

"Who's ready for cake?" I asked my family who were sitting at the kitchen table.

"I am!" my husband replied as he finished off the remaining food on his plate. His statement was shortly followed by agreements from my daughter and son.

Walking into the kitchen, I grabbed Maddie's birthday cake from the refrigarator, where I had to store it in order to keep it safe from any children, Pokemon, or even husbands. When I carried the cake into the dining room, I was met with words of celebration as Noah clapped, Maddie stood on her chair to get a closer look, and Ash licked his lips. Setting the cake in front of my now 8-year old daughter, I lit the eight tiny candles before stepping back.

After a torturous twenty seconds of mainly my husband singing, "Happy Birthday", we told Maddie to make a wish and blow out her candles. She closed her eyes to make a wish, and took in a big breath of air. Just as she opened her eyes to blow them out, Noah beat her to it, extinguishing nearly half of the candles on the cake. Within seconds, Maddie's eyes widened before she burst into tears while Noah sat giggling next to her.

"He stole my wish!" Maddie sobbed as she pointed an accusing finger at Noah. "Now it's not going to come true."

Not sure what to do, I just looked over at my husband who had an equally lost expression on his face. Neither of us had expected that to happen so, we had no idea how to react. Maddie had always been a big fan of anything that consisted of making wishes, so this was, and always had been, a big deal to her. As Maddie continued to sob, Noah continued to pretend he was blowing out more candles, ticking her off even more.

"Maddie," Ash called, trying to get her attention, "you still have some candles left to make a wish." Just as he said this, however, Noah somehow extinguished the last of the candles, Maddie now sobbing hysterically. Ash just groaned in annoyance before standing up to grab Noah from his highchair so that he was far away from any candles.

"Sweetie," I said, trying to comfort her. "We can relight them so you can make another wish."

"But-but, you're only allowed to make one wish per birthday," she blubbered through her tears. "And-And Noah took it from me!"

"I'm sure it would be okay for you to do it again," I tried to reassure her. "I bet lots of little girls and boys have this happen to them." My efforts were futile, though, as she just continued to cry. Now what was I going to do?

"Maddie," Ash said as he bounced Noah up and down on his lap. " Noah didn't know what he was doing. It was just an accident. I'm sure it would completely fine if you made another wish. I bet it would still come true. Plus, Mommy made you this yummy cake, so you need to blow out the candles and make a wish so we can eat it."

"Fine," she replied, her sobs slowly dying down.

Silently throwing a thank you at my husband, I sighed in relief knowing that a huge crisis had been averted. As unsuspecting as this birthday had turned out, I knew it would make a funny story when Noah and Maddie were older. But I couldn't help but notice how quickly Noah had picked up on the process of blowing out candles, as well as how big his little lungs were. And that, was what I worried about the most.


	27. A Trip to the Doctor's

**_A Trip to the Doctor's_**

MADDIE: AGE 6

"Ash, can you take Maddie to the doctor?" my wife asked me from the kitchen table. Next to her was Noah, sound asleep in his rocker. "I would take her myself, but there's just some stuff I have to get done, and Brock's busy with his own family."

"Sure," I agreed. A simple trip to the doctor wouldn't be bad. Plus, I owed it to Misty to help out. "What time's her appointment?"

"1:30," she replied. Glancing at my watch I saw that it was 12:45. If I wanted to make it there on time, I needed to start rounding her up now. "Thanks so much."

"You're welcome," I replied before walking out of the kitchen.

In the family room, I found my daughter Maddie with her head buried in the couch as she counted loudly. "7...8...9...10! Ready or not here I come!" When she jumped off the couch, she finally noticed me standing there. "Oh, hi Daddy! I'm playing hide-and-go-seek with Pikachu. He's really good!"

"Want to beat him?" I asked her. She nodded her had up and down eagerly. Slipping my hand into my pocket, I pulled out a packet of ketchup and handed it to her. "Open this. He'll run out of his hiding spot in no time."

Doing as I said, she opened the packet and sure enough, Pikachu came bounding from under the couch, having smelled the ketchup. When Maddie exclaimed that she had found him, he realized he had been tricked, and hung his head low in shame.

"Mommy says that you have a doctors appointment today," I told her. "I'm going to take you, though."

"Yay!" she cheered. Giving Pikachu the packet of ketchup, she ran up to me and jumped into my arms.

XXX

When we arrived at the doctor, there were a few people in the waiting room trying to hold their children or just observing them as they ran around the room, getting their germs over various things.

"Can I play?" Maddie asked me.

Don't get me wrong, I would have said yes if it hadn't been for the kid who sneezed all over the toy Maddie wanted to play with. The last thing I needed was for Maddie to be sick. "Uh, how about you stay here," I suggested to her. Luckily she was in a listening mood today because she nodded her head and sat down in the chair next to me.

"Maddie?" I heard a nurse call. Standing up, I grabbed Maddie's hand and directed her to the door the nurse was standing at. "Hello there," she greeted us with a big smile and a cheery voice. "You'll be in room number 4."

Leading us down the hallway, we reached room number 4. Following us in, she started asking me several questions about Maddie's health. Things that, I hate to admit, I wasn't so sure about. Next she led Maddie to a scale where she weighed her and took her height. After recording down her results, she grabbed the manila envelope that held Maddie's records, and told us the doctor would be there shortly before leaving. If there was one thing I had learned about being a parent, it was that when a nurse said the doctor would be with you shortly, it usually meant they didn't know when the doctor would be there, and that you would probably have to wait a while. There was a reason they had all those books and magazines just in the actual examining room.

To my surprise, though, we only had to wait five minutes before the doctor finally arrived. "Hello, I'm Dr. Reed," he greeted me, sticking out his hand for me to shake. "You must be Ash. Misty said you'd be bringing Maddie today."

"Nice to meet you," I replied, shaking his hand in return.

Smiling, he turned toward Maddie who was seated on the bench. "Hi Maddie. How are you today?"

"I'm good," she told him.

He chuckled a bit. "Well that's good. I'm just going to first check to make sure everything looks good, okay?"

"Okay!"

Maddie hopped onto the bench and swung her legs back and forth as the doctor checked her over to make sure there was nothing Misty and I needed to be concerned about. Next, he checked her eyes, ears, listened to her heart, and checked her stomach. Between these various things, he either nodded or jotted something down on a piece of paper he had brought. I just hoped that didn't mean anything was wrong.

"She looks great," he finally told me. "Everything internally sounds great. Nothing to worry about."

"Great," I replied, letting out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. He must have noticed because he laughed at me a bit.

"All right. Well, I'll just stick these things in her folder and then I'll have the nurse come by and take care of her vaccinations."

"Vaccinations?"

"Maddie's due for her 6-year old round of vaccinations," he told me. "Didn't Misty tell you?"

No. Misty had not told me. In fact, it had slipped her mind.

"Right. So I'll get the nurse, and then we'll finish those up and be all done." With an air of awkwardness in the room, he slipped out leaving me to fend for myself.

When Misty had asked me to take Maddie to the doctor, she hadn't mentioned anything about Maddie being due for any vaccinations. Knowing Misty, though, she had neglected to tell me because she knew I would have so no if I had been aware of why Maddie needed to go to the doctor. I always knew she was manipulative.

"Daddy?" I heard Maddie call me. "What's a vaccination?"

Great. Now I had to be the one to tell Maddie what was headed her way. To little kids, vaccination was just some big word they didn't know. If you told them it meant they would be getting some shots, though, they would know exactly what you were talking about. And knowing how afraid of them Maddie was, she would surly flip out once she found out.

Not wanting her to be surprised, though, I felt I needed to tell her the truth. Walking over to the bench, I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Maddie. The doctor said that you have to get some shots because you're six now." Just as I suspected, a look of fear spread across Maddie's face. "It's going to be okay, though. They're going to help you not get sick. You're only going to feel a little pinch."

And to prove it to her, I lightly pinched the skin on her arm. This, however, did not work out as I had thought it would, Maddie bursting into tears, claiming that I had hurt her. So maybe, that wasn't such a great idea. To make it even worse, that's when the nurse walked in carrying some syringes on a tray. At this point in time, Maddie finally lost it, and, despite me being the one that had pinched her, she jumped into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck in a death grip.

"Don't' let them give me a shot, Daddy!" she wailed from my shoulder. "Fight them off with your Pokemon!" I tried to throw the nurse an apologetic look, but she just smiled, laughed, and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Maddie," I whispered in her ear as I tried to set her back on the table, "it's okay to be scared. If you want, you can hold Daddy's hand."

"NO!" she screamed, now kicking her feet wildly in the air. With the nurse's help, I held her down long enough for the nurse to clean her arm.

When she turned to grab the first syringe, she had to let go, allowing Maddie to wiggle around in my arms as she screamed some more. "Mr. Ketchum, you're going to have to hold her still for me."

"I know," I groaned. I was trying, but Maddie just wasn't going to sit still. I was the Pokemon Master for crying out loud. I should be able to hold a six-year-old down without much effort. Thankfully, another nurse walked into the room and helped me hold down Maddie.

"Pikachu!" Maddie yelled. "Thundershock them!" I don't know why she was calling Pikachu because he wasn't even here.

I didn't even want to imagine what the people outside were thinking. They probably thought we were torturing her in here. With the nurse helping me, the other nurse was finally able to give Maddie her first shot, which did not go well with her. The nurse who was giving Maddie her shots, tried to work as fast as she could, cleaning the site, giving her a shot and than slapping on a Band-Aid; rinse and repeat.

When Maddie kicked the nurse that was helping me, I wanted to die in embarrassment. At one point, she had broken loose and tried to tackle the nurse giving her the shot, claiming that she woudl send her blasting off like Team Rocket. All I could think about, though, was how I was going to kill Misty when I got home. Not even Gary Oak deserved this. What made it even worse-if that was even possible-was that not even Growlie was able to subdue Maddie.

After her ordeal, Maddie was given a sucker while the nurse signed for the shots Maddie had received. Once she was done with that, and we were given the okay to go, I bolted out of there as fast as I could. I had a feeling that once we left, Maddie's face would be posted in doctor's offices around the regions, warning them about her. I think we might need be asked to leave and find a new doctor.

When we got home, Maddie skipped happily into the kitchen to greet Misty and Noah as if nothing had happened.

"How'd it go?" Misty asked me rather innocently.

"Next time you ask me to take our daughter to the doctor, don't forget to mention that she was due for some shots," I sneered.

"That was today?" she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Ash! I'm so sorry! I forgot to give you the cream."

"What cream?"

"It's magic cream. It numbs her arm so she doesn't feel anything." Numbing cream? NUMBING CREAM! There had been this special cream that would prevent Maddie from having flipped out like that? _Now_ she decided to mention this? Go figure.

"You mean, I had to go through you-know-what with her when you had this numbing cream the entire time?"

"Yes," she replied sheepishly. But in a more sensual voice she added, "I'll make it up to you, don't worry."

"Not even that could make up for what I had to go through."

And with that, I left the kitchen to go see if Brock wanted to go out later, swearing to never take Maddie to the doctor again.


	28. Noah the Snowman

**_Noah the Snowman (Requested by Le Masque Noire. I hope you like it.)  
><em>**

MADDIE: AGE 7 1/2

NOAH: AGE 1

"There you go, Noah," I smiled at my son as I lifted him up in the air. He cooed and waved his little arms around, much happier now that his diaper had been changed. Carrying him my arms, I walked over to his crib and set him down in it. "You wait right here. I'll be back."

As I walked out of the room to go and grab some formula for him, it dawned on me what I had said. He wasn't going to go anywhere, so what I had said seemed kind of dumb. Oh well.

When I walked back up the steps with Noah's formula, Maddie ran past me, saying something about looking for my husband. Thinking nothing of it, I walked into out room and gasped at the site before me. My husband and I's room looked just like the outside with white spots scattered all over the room. It honestly looked like it had snowed. Running over to Noah's crib, I started panicking when I didn't see him there. I had only been gone five minutes tops so what could have happened to him in that little amount of time? As I ran around the small room trying to find my son, I spotted the huge bottle of baby powder discarded on the floor, the lid a few inches away. Kneeling on the floor, I looked under the bed to see if, for some strange reason, he could have gotten out and crawled under the bed. Having no luck, I stood back up. It was then that I noticed something moving on my bed.

How could I have not noticed that before? It was now that I cursed myself for having chosen a white comforter and matching pillows. To make matters worse, there was one pillow in the middle that was black on top and white on the bottom. It was this pillow that had caused me to completely miss my own son when I was frantically searching the room.

When I picked up Noah, he was covered in baby powder, the only thing you could see being his green eyes that stood out under the white. He started crying, probably scared by the unknown substance that was all over his body. As I carried him off to the bathroom for a bath, the white powder fell off his body, leaving a trail from our room to the bathroom. I set him next to me, making sure he didn't go anywhere as I filled up the bathtub. When I felt the water was just right, I picked him back up and set him in the tub. Almost instantly the bath water became clouded with baby powder as I worked hard to wash the stuff off of him.

"My snowman!" I heard my daughter cry from the bathroom doorway.

My husband, who was standing behind her, started laughing. "Ah. So this is the snowman you wanted to show me."

"He's not anymore," she said, lowering her head in sadness. "Mommy ruined it."

I ruined it? She had almost hurt Noah! The powder had been all over him, and I'm pretty sure some had even gotten in his mouth. If anymore had, I was positive he would have had trouble breathing.

"Go to your room, Maddie," I instructed her. Actually listening to me for once, she turned around and pushed past Ash, sulking as she walked back to her room.

"Misty," I heard Ash call. I could tell just be his voice that he was sympathizing with her. "It was an accident. She didn't know what she was doing."

"I don't care," I snapped as I started washing the powder out of Noah's hair. "He could have been seriously hurt."  
>He sighed before coming to kneel down next to me. "He's going to be fine, Mist. So you can stop freaking out."<p>

"Fine," I grumbled, wiping the last of the powder off my son. "I'm locking up the baby powder, though. The only snowmen I ever want to see better be made of snow."

He chuckled before he stood up and left, leaving me with Noah who stared at me, absolutely lost to what had just happened to him.

Pulling him out of the tub as I drained it, I wrapped him up in a towl. Ruffling the coal colored hair on his head, I couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him. "Being the youngest is tough." He gave me a confused look as if he was trying to understand what I was saying. With an older sister like Maddie, I'm sure he would have plenty of more occasions to learn this.


	29. Beauties and the Beach

_**Beauties and the Beach**_ (This one was requested by Mclash)

MADDIE: AGE 18

NOAH: AGE 13

BROCK'S POV

"Uh oh," I heard Ash and Misty's thirteen-year old son say. He had been sitting next to me in a beach chair, having taken a break from swimming. His coal, black hair was plastered to the side of his face, and he had on green swimming trunks. Curled up on his lap was a sleeping Poochyena. "He's going to try it again."

I looked where he was looking to see a man about my age walking toward Misty, his body language reflecting what I had always associated with my younger self. We had seen him earlier walking up and down the beach, trying to "accidentally" run into Misty when Ash wasn't around. His efforts had proven futile, however, as Ash hadn't really left Misty's side. Now that Ash had disappeared to who knows where, his opportunity was waiting for him. As the guy chatted up Misty-probably using some extremely lame pick-up lines-Noah and I watched the scene unfold in front of us.

"You know? I don't really understand why people hit on my mom," Noah told me. For a thirteen-year old boy, he was a lot more mature than I gave him credit for. "I mean I could see why people would hit on my sister, but my mom, well, she's old. She's married, AND she's had two kids."

"It's because she's famous, and she happens to be a very, uh, good looking person despite her age," I told him. "Although, I will say that none of these guys could stay long once they got to really know her. No offense to your mom, but I know I couldn't marry her. I never understood how your father did. I give him props, though. He did something I thought was impossible."

Noah laughed, completely understanding what I was talking about. Don't get me wrong, I loved Misty as a best friend, but her temper… well, that was just something I would rather deal with in moderation. I would leave all the other times to Ash.

"Speaking of which…" Noah interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to see a very angry Ash headed right for Misty and the guy. "Five bucks my dad threatens him with Pikachu."

"You're on."

"Hey, guys!" I turned around to see Maddie standing behind us, two bottles of water in her hands. She had on a blue bikini top and purple surfer shorts. Next to her stood her friend Grant, a beach ball tucked under his arm. Unlike Noah, he had on blue bottoms that, interestingly enough, were the exact same shade of blue as Maddie's suit. "What's going on?"

"Some guy's trying to hit on mom again," Noah explained to her, his tone of voice making it sound like this was something that happened on a regular basis. "Five bucks he threatens him with Pikachu."

"No way," Maddie retorted. "Five bucks he's going to send out Charizard."

Noah turned around to look at his sister, giving her a look of pure bewilderment. "Why would he send Charizard out? We're at a beach, Maddie. There's water!"

She was completely unfazed by his comment. "I've seen this before. He starts out with Pikachu, but if the guy keeps coming back, he sends out Charizard. I'm sure of it." It was as if her and Noah were talking about a T.V. episode they had both seen.

"Fine. Winner gets all the money?"

"Deal."

"I love this family," Grant announced, reminding us that he was standing there.

If he finally realized what we all knew except him-and maybe, Maddie-he might just become part of this family. And if my memory hadn't let me down, Maddie and Grant were the same age as when Ash and Misty had confessed. I neglected to say that out loud, though. Maddie and Noah just looked at him rolling their eyes as they both gave him a look that I had always associated with Ash. I know those two would hate being told this, but they really did look related when they did things like that, and they were definitely Ash's children.

Quickly moving on, Maddie sat down on the empty chair next to Noah, while Grant sat at the edge of the seat next to her. Maddie and Noah watched Ash intently, waiting to see which one of them would be right. Despite their differences, if there was one thing Maddie and Noah had both inherited, it was their parent's stubborn and competitive nature. I doubt the two of them actually cared about the money, this competition-like all the others-being more about pride and who was right.

We watched as Ash reached Misty and the guy, putting himself between them as he faced the guy. He twirled a Pokeball on his finger like a basketball as the man slowly started to back away.

"I kind of feel sorry for that guy," Grant commented. Noah and Maddie turned around and glared at him. "What? I know exactly how he feels. Your dad-and your mom for that matter-can be scary."

I smiled, knowing what he was alluding to. Misty had called me the next day and told me how Gary had told Maddie's friend to call her Mrs. Red. I guess things hadn't gone so well for Grant, as Ash was ready to kill him for insulting Misty.

Ignoring him-Poor guy. The Ketchums could be rough-Maddie and Noah turned back around to see what Pokemon would come out.

Misty, completely amused by the whole thing, laughed as Ash finally tossed the Pokeball in the air, releasing Charizard.

"Yes! I knew it. Dad's way to predictable," Maddie cheered. She turned around to face Noah, thrusting her open hand in the space between them. "Now hand over the money little brother."

"Damn it," Noah cursed. He pulled out his wallet from a nearby bag and pulled out five dollars, placing it grudgingly into his sister's hand. Pulling out my own wallet, I handed over the five dollars I owed her. Maddie beamed, having snatched a victory.

"Now that I've won all this money, I think I'm going to go spend some on a snow cone. Any requests while I'm at the snack bar?" She stood up from the chair and waited for replies.

"I'm good," I told her.

"I would love some ice cream," Noah told her. Ah, so he loved ice cream like Misty. "Chocolate and-"

"Chocolate and vanilla with extra sprinkles? I know," Maddie winked at him. "How 'bout you Grant?"

"I'm okay. Thanks Madeline."

Hearing no other requests, she turned around and headed off to the snack bar. On her way there, she stopped to say something to her passing father who looked as peeved as he was before. I didn't hear what Maddie said, but by the small, mischievous, smile on Ash's face, I could tell she must have said something that made him laugh. When they were done talking, Maddie continued on while Ash headed back to where we were.

"Damn it. Why couldn't she have stayed a scrawny runt?" Ash huffed in anger. Grant looked taken a back either surprised to hear someone as famous as Ash cuss or surprised to hear him insult Misty like that. I wasn't quite sure. It was then, however, that I realized, if Grant ever did become part of this family, I would probably have to clear up a few things for him. One of those being that Ash didn't actually mean the things he said about Misty. That this was just part of their relationship with each other, and to not be surprised if he ever heard Misty call Ash a stupid, dense trainer in return. "It would make my life so much easier."

"I heard that," Misty sneered who, unbeknownst to Ash, had been behind him the whole time. "You don't think my life would have been much easier if I didn't live with such a dense husband?" See? What did I tell you?

Despite what she said, she wrapped her arms around Ash and gave him a kiss on the cheek much to Noah's dismay. This, of course, caused Ash's anger and jealousy to instantly disappear. She had that effect on him.

"Next time you fight off mom's suitors, make sure you use Pikachu," Noah instructed Ash.

"What?" Ash asked, not understanding why his son was telling him this.

"Maddie, Noah and I made a bet to see what Pokemon you would use to threaten the guy with. Noah picked Pikachu, while Maddie picked Charizard. She apparently knows you pretty well."

"Guess so," Ash nodded in agreement.

Noticing Ash and Misty had nowhere to sit, Grant stood up, allowing them to take the chair Maddie had left vacant, while Pikachu, who had been on Ash's shoulder, curled up between the two. Grant looked around, trying to find somewhere to sit, but after a few seconds, it appeared as if something else caught his eye.

"I'm going to go help Madeline," he told us. "She, uh, looks like she could use some help."

We watched him go as he walked down the beach and over to the snack bar where the real reason he had gone to "help" Maddie revealed itself. Noah must have caught on because he started laughing at the sight of Maddie talking to a boy and his Poliwag. It was clearly evident that the boy was somewhat attracted to Maddie, as he was looking more at a certain part of Maddie that, if Ash knew, the boy would never see another day.

"Psh. And he says he doesn't like my sister," Noah smirked. "She obviously needs no help. He's just going over there because he knows that boy's ten times better looking than he is."

"Ash, look," I said, pointing over to where Maddie, Grant and the boy were standing.

"Huh?" Ash asked, sitting up so he could get a better look at what I was talking about.

Taking notice to Ash's sudden movement, Misty sat up as well to try and get a glance at what I was talking about. "Oh, dear," she sighed.

"What?" Ash asked again.

"Really?" Misty asked him, cocking her eyebrow as she gave him a look of disbelief. "You really are dense. Do you not see what's going on?"

"I'm not dense," he argued back. He looked over at where his daughter was standing, taking note of the two boys surrounding her. "He's helping her just like he said he was going to."

"I rest my case," Misty sighed. Noah just gave his dad a look as he shook his head. You'd think Ash would be able to pick up on these things by now. "Grant clearly likes Maddie. He didn't just go over there to help her, Ash. He went over there for the same reason you scared that guy away."

"Grant like Maddie?" Ash repeated as more of a question. Oddly, though, he suddenly started laughing. "Yeah right, Misty. If Grant liked Maddie more than that, I would be able to tell. Trust me."

"Oh would you now?" This peaked her interest as she gave her husband yet another look of disbelief, this time raising both her eyebrows.

"I guess Grant's not the only one in denial," I laughed. This caused Misty to smirk, knowing exactly what I was talking about. "It appears as if Ash can't seem to accept the fact his little girl is growing up. That a boy actually likes her as more than a friend."

"You do realize Ash, that Maddie and Grant are the same age as when we started dating," she told him, saying out loud what I had decided not to earlier. "I happen to know for a fact that Maddie likes Grant so, I wouldn't be surprised if the next time we talked to her, those two are dating."

"You don't actually mean that, Mist?" Ash asked, fear evident in his voice. I guess the thought of his little girl having a boyfriend was something he'd rather not deal with. "Plus, if Maddie did, she would have told me."

"Maddie's smart, Ash. There's a reason you don't know." Misty did have a point. Ash was very protective of Maddie, as I had learned when Noah called me to ask me to convince Ash to let him travel by himself. If Maddie had told Ash that she liked the boy she had been traveling with, he probably would have made her come home.

Not having anything to say to that, Ash turned his attention back to his daughter who was now talking to Grant, the other boy nowhere to be found. We all watched as Maddie and Grant talked, Maddie laughing and smiling every now and then, while Grant shifted uneasily from side to side. He was obviously nervous about something. Maddie smiled one last time before she gave Grant a kiss on the cheek and walked away, leaving Grant stuck where he was in a daze.

"PIKA!" Pikachu yelled in anger shocking Ash who, when leaning into get a closer look, had squished the Pokemon's tail.

Ash toppled off the chair face first into the sand. Maddie saw this, stopping in her tracks just four feet away, as her mouth gaped open and her whole face turned a bright red. Grant, having snapped out of his daze, had walked up behind her and was staring at Ash.

"Told you," was all Misty said as she looked at her husband who was sprawled out in the sand.

"I don't know about you, Brock, but I think this has been my best trip to the beach to date," Noah told me.

"Agreed."

Recovering from his spill, Ash dusted the sand off himself and looked up to search for Maddie. When Maddie saw Ash starting at her, she grabbed Grant's hand and bolted the opposite way, pulling him along with her. I guess Maddie didn't want to face Ash right now, and I didn't blame her.

"It was a thank you!" she yelled before running off.

"Some thank you," Noah snorted. "I'll be back. I still want my ice cream." With that, Noah got up and left his Poochyana chasing after him.

"I-I-I," Ash stuttered as he watched Maddie run in the opposite direction.

"Shh," Misty told him, pressing her finger to his lips to silence him. "Give it up, Ash. You're not going to win this one."

"At least we still have Noah," he sighed, looking to his son who had ran to the snack bar.

Noah had finally gotten his ice cream and was standing a few feet away talking to two girls who were petting his Poochyena, giggling at whatever he had said. I hated to say it, but Noah was much better with girls than I was. If I knew him when I was younger, I would have envied him.

"Hmm. It must be my eyes," Misty commented, alluding to her and Noah both having green eyes.

"Ahh! That's it!" Ash yelled in frustration, throwing his hands in the air. Sitting back down on the chair, he slammed into the back of the chair, folding his arms and huffing like a four-year old. "This family is banned from coming to the beach."

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed this story! Since this story could very well go on forever, I have decided to end it here with these ages. However, I am more than happy to take any requests you may have. Just let me know-preferably via a private message-what your idea is with some details, and I will try my best to write a one-shot. If you choose to make a request, I would appreciate it if you had the story occur with Maddie being 18 or younger, and Noah being 13 and younger, since, for now, I don't plan on writing stories with them older than that. Also, Noah and Maddie don't necessarily have to be the main focus of the story, as seen when Giovanni comes to visit Ash. Thanks to all for the reviews over the writing of this story. You don't know how much I appreciate them.<p> 


	30. M&G Part 1: Give It A Chance

So, I've gotten a lot of requests to write a story or two about what happens between Maddie and Grant. I have decided to write those similar to how I wrote the ones about Maddie coming home. These next chapters (I don't know how many, yet) will be about what happens between Maddie and Grant. This is the first one. I hope you enjoy them.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Part 1: Give It A Chance<em>**

MADDIE: AGE 19

I flipped through the menu for what seemed like the twentieth time as I waited for him to show up. I don't know why I was even looking at the menu, considering I knew it by heart and ordered the same thing every time I came here. This was our place, and I had come here for years with him to stuff our faces with cheeseburgers and milkshakes while we bonded. That was when I was a kid, though. Now I was much older and I hadn't been here for almost nine years.

I glanced over at my Pokenav to see it was almost 5:30. Where was he? He had promised to meet me here after work, but that was supposed to be at 5. He never let me down like this. I didn't intend to sound selfish, but I really needed him. As odd as it sounded to me, I needed to talk to him about something important to me.

After waiting another five minutes, I heard the bell on the door chime as my dad finally walked into the restaurant.I watched him as he stopped and took a deep breath as Pikachu nudged his cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he apologized, sliding into the booth across from me.

"Rough day at work?" I asked, throwing him a sympathetic smile. I hadn't been home very often, but when I had, my dad always seemed really stressed out after work. He just nodded as he picked up the menu in front of him. "I already ordered for you."

"Oh. Thanks." He set the menu back down and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. When he looked back up at me, I could see for the first time how whatever it was work was affecting him. He had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, and I could see a little stubble on his face. Even his brown eyes that were usually bright now looked dull. It was as if something had sucked the life out of him. He quickly threw me a smile, pretending like everything was fine. "So, what's the important thing you want to talk about?"

Oh. Right. In my concern for him, I had forgotten why we were here. "Can I ask you a question?" I asked, answering his question with one of my own.

"Shoot."

He looked at me, waiting for me to ask him what I wanted. I stared back at him, trying to gain the courage to ask a question that really shouldn't have been that hard to ask. Taking a small breath, I carried on. "How did you know you liked mom? You know, as more than a friend?"

Just then the waitress walked up with our food. "Here you go," she said, setting the plates and milkshakes onto the table. Before leaving, she asked us if there was anything else she could get for us. We had told her no. "All right. Enjoy your meal."

"Is this about Grant?" my dad asked, taking one of his fries and dipping it into his milkshake. He had done this ever since I can remember, having introduced me to it when I was a kid. This was just one of the many weird quirks about him that I had inherited. "Because your mother already warned me about this."

"Yes," I sighed in defeat. I didn't want to lie to him, but I honestly didn't think he would have figured it out that fast.

"I had a feeling." He set the fry back on his plate and pushed it over to the side so he could place his hands on the table. His face turned slightly serious, making this feel more like a business exchange. "Look, Maddie. I don't really know a whole lot about feelings and stuff like that. It took me years to figure out that I liked your mother more than just a good friend. I trust you, though, and I know that you're a smart girl and that you'll make the right decision for yourself."

"I know. I've really thought this through, and I really like him." It was weird telling my dad about my feelings toward my best friend when I had hidden it all from him before. "You'd like him too, you know? If you just give it a chance."

"I will now will I?" he asked, smirking at me. I smiled back knowing that under all the stress, my dad was still there. "Your mother told me that when you first introduced us to him."

"She's right," I told him. If my dad would just give Grant a fair chance, I knew they would get along. Although they may have different strengths-such as Grant being good at reading maps and my dad being a lot braver than Grant-they were very similar in many ways. "You really should. Give him a chance, that is. You could come do something with Grant and I. You could show us your work. I'm sure he would love that."

"Just make sure he doesn't talk to Gary or takes any of his advice before hand. We don't want any repeats of Mrs. Red. He got lucky last time, but this time they'll be no excuses in his favor," my dad threatened. Well, I guess he was trying, and that's all I could ask for. "And I think it'd be best if I got to know him one on one."

"What do you mean, one on one?" I gave him a suspicious look, weary of what he had in mind. I had wanted to go with them to make sure that my dad didn't scare Grant like he had last time, but it seemed my dad wanted to do things his way. I could only imagine what my dad had in mind for something to do with Grant. As I tried to figure out what my dad might pick, it suddenly dawned on me that his words, one on one, had a hidden meaning. "You're not thinking-"

"A one on one Pokemon battle?" he grinned all to knowingly. "I think that'd be an excellent idea."

"You can't do that!" I shouted at him. What was it with my dad and solving everything with Pokemon battles? Even as a kid he had been this way, especially with my Uncle Gary.

"Why not?"

"Uh, did you forget who you are?" I fumed. "You're the Pokemon Master! You can't challenge him like that. You'll just scare him away when you beat him."

He frowned at me. "If you really like a boy, Maddie, you should have confidence in him."

"Never stopped mom," I remarked. This caused him to laugh.

"Well your mom is an exception," he chuckled. "In fact, she's probably the worst example of how to treat a guy you like. I don't see how I ever ended up marrying her, let alone, having two kids with her. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Gee thanks," I commented, sarcasm in my voice.

"You know I'm only kidding Maddie," he told me. "You three are the best thing that's ever happened to me. I would never want it any differently."

Silence fell between us while my dad munched on some fries and I dipped mine in my milkshake. Swallowing his food, he looked at me before speaking again.

"So when are you going to tell him?" he asked me. "I presume that you plan on doing that soon."

"Well…" I said, my voice rising a bit, "he kind of already asked me out the other day."

"Hmmm. Considering what you've told me today, I assume you're going to say yes then?" I nodded in confirmation, telling him I would like to tell him yes. "If you say yes, then you and him will probably become boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Probably."

It was like he was playing connect the dots, trying to figure out what might happen next. It wasn't that complicated if you ask me.

"Well then, it looks like I'm going to have to go over some ground rules with this boy."

"Dad," I whined. Him giving Grant ground rules about dating me was not going to end well for Grant. I'd be lucky if I even got to see him. Knowing my dad it would be something dumb such as I could only spend time with him if my dad was around. Or, that Noah had to go on all our dates. "Don't you think you're being a little unreasonable?"

"Absolutely not," he stated. Well, that answered that. "But I promise not to be to hard on him."

Woah. My dad was actually backing down a bit. This might truly be a miracle.

"Really?" I asked, making sure he wasn't kidding.

"Maddie," he laughed, "I'm not evil and I'm not going to scare him away. I just want to talk to him to make sure he understands a few things. It's a simple precaution."

"Okay," I sighed. I knew there really wasn't much hope in fighting him on this. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for trying," I thanked him. This was a big step for him, and like I said earlier, this was the least I could ask for. "I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Maddie." He smiled at me, hamburger in his hand. His smile quickly turned to a devilish grin as he said, "I still think a Pokemon battle would be a good idea, though."

I just groaned, hitting my head on the table in front of me. I could hear Pikachu sigh as he walked over to me and patted me on the head. He knew just as much as I did how tough it was to live with my dad sometimes.

"What do you think Madeline?" I heard him ask me, using my full name. I think he was just trying to make fun of Grant because he was the only one that still called me that. This was not a good start. "Brock, and I give your friend Grant a proper introduction and get to know him a bit?"

He wouldn't dare…Oh well. "Whatever, Dad." I didn't even care anymore. At least I had a date. That is, if my date survived my dad and Uncle Brock.

"Maybe I'll bring Gary and Noah along, too." Gary and Noah, too? For crying out loud, I wasn't marrying the guy! I was just going on a date with him. Those two alone would work together to get Noah on my parent's bad side again. Why did the only girls my dad was friends with have to live in different regions? "What do you think Pikachu? Sounds fun, right?"

"Chu," the Pokemon sighed.

Hmm. Maybe tomorrow I would stop by Grandma's.

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed this story. Don't worry, I'll write a story about Ash getting to know Grant. I've got some ideas about that one. He he. :) Look for some updates throughout the weekend. These shouldn't take much time to write.<p> 


	31. M&G Part 2: The First Date

**_Part 2: The First Date _**_(Requested by memmek10k)_**_  
><em>**

MADDIE: AGE 19****

AN: I wasn't so sure about this idea at first, but I decided to stick with it. We'll see how this goes.

I sat at the kitchen table spinning my dad's old Pokemon League hat between my fingers as I waited for Grant to get here. Tonight was the big night; we were going on our first date. I had somehow been able to convince my dad to let me go, but I was still nervous about his whole plan of him getting to know Grant. Knowing my dad and my uncles, this might be my last date with Grant. As I looked at the hat, I secretly prayed that it would bring me good luck like it had in the past. And, if things looked promising, I planned on lending Grant the hat so that he would have good luck on Saturday.  
>A few hours earlier, my mom had started fussing over me as she helped me getting ready. She kept trying to get me to put on a little makeup and to dress up a little nicer than I normally did. After trying on outfit after outfit, I finally decided on strapless, orange sundress and white sandals. For my hair, I had my mom help me curl it so, when I wore it down it fell in big locks. I even let her put a little blush and eye shadow on so she would stop bugging me about it.<p>

"I think he's here," my mom said just as the doorbell rang.

I hopped off the kitchen chair, stuffing the hat in my bag before I walked over to the door. Before opening it, I took a deep breath and checked to make sure my dad wasn't anywhere near by. I would have thought that the minute the doorbell rang, he would be down here opening the door for me. If I was lucky, he was still in the backyard with Noah, their training session to intense to quit now.

"Hi, Madeline," Grant greeted me with a big smile. Instead of the khaki shorts and t-shirt he always wore, he had actually tried to dress up a bit this time. Although he still wore khaki shorts, he had on a blue and white plaid shirt and some flip-flops. Well, I guess he had tried. "For a tomboy, you clean up pretty nice."

"Gee thanks," I replied, rolling my eyes. "You ready to go?"

"Sure."

"Mom!" I yelled. "We're leaving."

"All right, sweetie!" she yelled back. "Be home by 10 please."

"So what are we doing?" I asked Grant as I shut the front door and started walking down the path with him.

"You'll see." He took a Pokeball out of his pocket, enlarged it, and then threw it up in the air to release a Pidgeot. I guess his Pidgeotto had finally evolved. He hopped onto the pokemon's back and held out his hand to help me up. If I had known we were going to be flying on a pokemon, I wouldn't have worn a dress. This was poor planning on his part. Since I didn't want to fall off, when I was finally on, I had no choice but to wrap my arms around his waist. Sneaky… sneaky. "Let's go."

We took off, soaring high above Pallet Town to wherever he had planned for us to go. I know everyone had said I was a lot like my dad, but when it came to flying on a pokemon, I always got really nervous. While my dad probably preferred the skies, I preferred the seas like my mom.

"It's okay if you're scared, Madeline," he teased me.

"I'm not scared," I snapped at him. Being scared and nervous were two different things.

"Whatever you say," he laughed. I just stuck my tongue out at him. He didn't see me, though because he was facing the other way.

After a few minutes, we landed in Viridian City in front of a restaurant called, _Rosie's. _Safely landed, I removed my hands from his waist and watched him hop off before helping me down. "This is my favorite restaurant," he told me as he recalled his pokemon. "And from what you've told me about you and your dad's place, I have a feeling you'll like it, too."

"Really?" I asked him. I'm sure this place would be good, but nothing could beat the place my dad and I always went to in Pallet.

"Yep," he assured me. "I come here all the time. The owners know me really well. They're really nice, too."

I followed him as he led us to the entrance and into the restaurant. It must have been really good like he had told me because the place was packed with people. When we reached the hostess station, he gave them his name and reservation time before the lady grabbed some menus and led us to our table.

"Here you are," she told us, handing us each a menu when we sat down. "Your server should be right with you."

"Could you tell the owners that Grant's here? They wanted to meet my date."

"Sure thing."

Opening up the menu, I saw lists of foods from salads and appetizers to chicken sandwiches and hamburgers. On the next page, my eyes lit up in happiness as I saw a whole list of milkshakes from your basic to vanilla to cookie dough. You could even put different kids of candy in them, too. I would definitely have to take my dad here if the milkshakes were good.

As I glanced down the list of milkshakes some more, I came across their most popular one, and the one they were known for. It was a vanilla milkshake that they somehow died yellow filled with blue and red M&Ms. It was called the Twerp.

A few seconds later, the waitress came by to take our orders. Since I pretty much knew what I wanted, I went ahead and ordered my food in addition to the drink. Just like at the place my dad and I went, I ordered a cheeseburger and a milkshake. Since this was a new place, I decided to go ahead and try the milkshake they were known for. Following my lead, Grant did the same, ordering a chocolate milkshake and a chicken sandwich.

"That's a really good milkshake you ordered," Grant told me, probably trying to strike up a conversation.

"I sure hope so," I smirked. I wouldn't lie. I was totally comparing this place to the one in Pallet. "They have really funny names for their milkshakes, though."

"Oh yeah," he laughed. "I asked the owners once about it, and they told me it was a tribute to these two kids they knew when they were younger. I guess, the colors in the milkshake correlate to something about those two people. The blue is for the boy's blue jacket, the yellow for his Pikachu, and the red for the girl's hair. They called them the Twerps, so that's why they named it that. Did you know they got married? Kind of neat how it worked out like that."

"What are the names of the owners?" I asked, my voice squeaking a bit.

"Jessie and James," he said, confirming my worst fears.  
><em>No way<em>, I thought. It couldn't be them. That would be too coincidental. But at the same time, there had been only one group that would have known my parent when they were younger. The same group that, in pursuit my dad's beloved Pikachu, had followed him everywhere. And only one group that had given my parent's that exact nickname. As I stared at Grant, I just couldn't believe it. Of all the places he had taken me, it had to be Team Rocket's restaurant. My dad was going to kill me when he found out.

"You took me to the restaurant of my parent's long time enemies?" I hissed at him, making sure to keep my voice low enough so other people couldn't hear me.

"What?" he asked, shock written all over his face.

"Those kids in the little story about the milkshake?" I hinted, trying to see if he would pick up on what I was saying. "They're my parents!"

"You're parents?" As he tried to process what I had just said, it suddenly dawned on him. "OH MY GOD! The owners are those Team Rocket people your mom always told me about!"

"No shit, Sherlock." He just frowned at me, pouting because I had insulted his intelligence. One more thing to add to my list of things my dad and Grant had in common: They were kind of slow. "I bet my parents would love to know their long time enemies named a milkshake after them. I can just picture it now. 'How was your date Maddie? Oh it was great mom and dad! Grant took me to this really cool place where the owners named a milkshake after you. Did you know that? Oh, and guess what? The owners are Jessie and James. Surprise!' Yeah, that will go over just great with my dad."

I hadn't meant to sound so snippy, but I was a little peeved that I had ended up in this unfortunate position. I really liked Grant, and now I would probably never get to see him after this. Let's just say, I think this topped the Mrs. Red fiasco.

"What have you done now, Grant?" I heard a woman's voice ask him. When she reached the table, she set down our milkshakes as she just shook her head at Grant. "Let's not scare your date away. I haven't even gotten to meet her yet."

"Uh, no" he stuttered, still in shock from seconds before. He blushed a bit at her teasing. "This is Madeline."

"He talks about you non-stop when he's here. All good things," she told me. Great. The enemy knows all about me. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, though. I'm Jessie."

"I'm James," the man told me. "I hear you two met when you got lost in the woods."

"I was not lost," I sneered at him. I can't believe after nine years, this was being brought back up.

"Yes you were," he argued back. "I had to rescue you or you'd be stuck in those woods forever."

"I was perfectly fine."

"Uh, no you were not."

"Yes I was."

"Look what you've caused, James," Jessie snapped at her husband. "Now he's going to lose his date thanks to you."

"Sorry," he apologized. "Although, I must say, you two remind me of these two kids I knew. They argued all the time about everything. Ironically, they ended up getting married. What were there names again, Jessie? Mandy and Alex? Molly and Adam?"

That's it. I couldn't take it anymore. James sitting here butchering my parent's names was driving me crazy. How could he not remember their names? They were famous! "Ash and Misty," I answered for him.

"Yeah, that was it," he smiled. It quickly turned into a look of confusion, though. "Hey, how do you know that?"

It was then that Grant had to go and open his big mouth, causing me to have this extremely strong desire to strangle him. "Those are Madeline's parents." Idiot! Stupid idiot! After I had told him the story, he had gone and given my identity away! He must have seen the imploding anger on my face because he quickly turned back to me. "Don't worry, Madeline. They're good now. They quit Team Rocket a long time ago."

Oh, great. Now I felt better…

At this, Jessie started laughing hysterically while James just gawked at me, shocked beyond belief over who I was.

"You're the twerps daughter? Oh, this is great! You didn't tell us you were dating the twerps daughter, Grant," Jessie teased him. "You best not be telling her parents you know us." She waved her finger at him like a mother.

"I didn't know," he shrugged.

"Man," James sighed. "And I really liked her. Too bad she's a twerp."

"So Madeline," Jessie grinned, "you still know the motto? You knew it so well as a baby."

"No," I snapped. I had heard stories from Brock about how my dad had taught me Team Rocket's motto, and how for months, I would run into a room or answer the door and start reciting it. "It was a phase."

"I see," she laughed. "Well we better get going. It was nice meeting you, Baby Twerp. See you around."

With that, they finally left. Trying to avoid eye contact with me, Grant dug into his milkshake like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. Well, this was a great start to my first date.

XXX

"Want to go for a walk?" Grant asked me. "We've got some time left."

"Sure."

We walked in silence for a while before coming to a small river by the edge of the forest where I sat down and stuck my feet into the water. Grant sat down next to me, mimicking my actions before he laid down with his hands behind his head.

"I'm really sorry about earlier," I heard him tell me. What was weird about it was that it actually sounded genuine. "If I knew, I would have said something to you, honest."

"It's fine," I told him.

"No it's not. I know you, Madeline," he told me. "I really screwed up, and I am truly sorry for that. I shouldn't have told them who you were. If I hadn't, they would have never have found out, and we could have pretended like it never happened." I had to agree with him. Everything he was saying was true. "I just thought that since they had given up Team Rocket, maybe you could see that they were actually good people now."

I just sat there listening.

He sighed before sitting up to face me. I could feel his eyes on me as he stared at the side of my face. "I-I really like you Madeline. You know all these famous people and you're dad's probably the most famous one out there, yet you're super down to earth. You're one heck of a trainer, too. I don't think I'll ever be able to beat that Espeon of yours. And when we went to the beach with your family? I had so much fun hanging out with them. There's really never a dull moment with them around."

As much as I hated to admit it, I felt a smile pull at my lips. "There never is, is there?"

Relieved that I was slowly lightening up, he smiled at me, sliding his hand across the grass until it touched mine. "So do you forgive me, Madeline?"

I knew he was right. I couldn't be mad at him forever, and I'm sure Jessie and James would have eventually found out who I was. Plus, it had dawned on me that this Saturday was the day my dad would give Grant a chance. If things were going to go how I expected them to, I didn't want to live with the guilt of never forgiving him. Being me, though, I wasn't going to let him get off that easy. "Call me Maddie and I just might," I teased him.

"Well," he laughed, "I guess I'll never get forgiven then."

I knew he couldn't agree to that. As silence fell on us once again, it was then that I remembered the hat.

"Here," I told him as I pulled my dad's old Pokemon League hat out of my bag. I placed it on his head for him, adjusting it to make sure it fit him just so. "My dad said it's supposed to bring good luck. Good luck that I know you'll need on Saturday."

"Thanks Maddie," he replied, a big smile on his face. He stood up, offering his hand as he helped me up from the ground. "We should probably head back now."

"Just a second. I forgot something," I told him.

He turned his head to the side, trying to figure out what I had forgotten. But in a very Ketchum way-us Ketchums were very impatient-I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward me, kissing him. In my head, things had gone a lot smoother with less noses bumping, and hats ran into. After a few seconds, though, and after he had turned the hat around, things went a little more smoothly.

XXX

When we finally reached Pallet Town, I was actually sad to see our date ending. After what seemed like a disastrous date at first, it had actually turned out to be not half bad. I even got a first kiss out of it.

Being the gentleman he was, Grant once again helped me off his Pidgeot. To my surprise, there weren't any lights on in my house, indicating my family had probably gone to bed. I had honestly expected my mom to be standing outside the front door waiting to hear all the details, while my dad would be sitting at the kitchen table, counting the minutes on the clock.

"Thanks for tonight, Grant. I had fun."

"Me, too. And I'm really sorry about everything earlier. I'm glad it turned out okay in the end."

"Me, too," I agreed.

He leaned forward to kiss me again, this one a bit longer than the last one. Hopping back on his Pidgeot, he waved goodbye before flying off into the night.

Grasping the doorknob to my house, I turned it and pushed the door open expecting to be greeted by an onslaught of questions. Nobody was there, though, and nobody greeted me when I walked into the kitchen to find it empty as well. Hmm. They must have gone to bed like I originally thought.

As I went to walk upstairs, I spotted my dad asleep on the couch with Pikachu curled up by his feet. He must have been waiting up for me to come home when he fell asleep. He must have been still really stressed out from work because for someone who stayed up late, he had gone to be really early. Inspecting him a bit closer, I saw the dark circles under his eyes that I had seen when I met him in the diner a few days ago. I wouldn't lie. I was a bit worried. Figuring I should let him know I was home, I gently shook him to wake him up.

"Oh, hi Maddie," he greeted me, sleepiness evident in his voice. "What time is it?"

"It's ten," I told him. "When I got home you were asleep. I figured I'd wake you up before I headed off to bed."

"Thanks." He sat up and stretched his arms. Pikachu, sensing a disturbance, twitched his ears before he woke up, releasing a big yawn. He patted Pikachu on the head with a smile before turning back to me. "Did you have fun?"

Well this was out of character for him.

"Uh, yeah I did," I told him.

"That's good. I'm glad." Um…I think my mom had hit him a little too hard this time. He stood up and Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. "Well I think I'm going to head to bed."

"All right." Squeezing my shoulder, he said goodnight before heading up the steps. When he was half way up, he stopped and turned around, remembering something he had forgotten to tell me. "How are Jessie and James? It's been a while since I've seen them."

All color drained from my face, realizing I had been caught. How had he found out? Had he secretly sent a spy to follow me? I wouldn't put it past him to do that. Knowing all to well that he had me trapped, he just smirked at me.

"They called this evening, telling me that I wouldn't believe who had just walked into their restaurant." Not waiting for me to reply, he walked up the steps and down the hallway until I heard the door to my parents' room close.

As I stood there at the bottom of the steps, all I could think about was one thing: When did my parents and Team Rocket become friends?


	32. M&G Part 3: Sink Or Swim

**_Part 3: Sink or Swim_**

MADDIE: AGE 19

NOAH: AGE 13

GRANT: AGE 19

If someone had told me that one day I would be sitting at a baseball game with the Pokemon Master, his son and two of his friends, I would have thought they were joking. Nonetheless, here I found myself in a stadium watching the Eclectabuz take on the Starmies. I had learned earlier on that because of his wife's love of water Pokemon, Mr. Ketchum was obliged to root for the Starmies. And based on the game so far, he had chosen the right team to cheer for. I think everyone else knew that, too considering the fans for the Electabuzz were very small compared to those for the Starmies. There was, however, one girl and her Meganium who definitely made up for it by cheering obnoxiously for the Electabuzz. To my surprise, Mr. Ketchum wasn't actually much into the game since, according to his friend Brock, it wasn't a pokemon battle. On the other hand, though, his son sure was.  
>"What?" Noah yelled to nobody in particular. "Are you blind? That was a strike! Bad call!"<p>

Professor Oak, or Gary as he told me to call him, just shook his head, clearly embarrassed by Noah's outbursts. "This is why Red shouldn't have been allowed to reproduce," he told Mr. Ketchum. I guess Gary really didn't care that Mr. Ketchum's wife despised being called Red. As I had learned, though, he was the only one who seemed to be allowed to.

To my surprise, this actually made him laugh. "Just be glad you weren't the one she was yelling at in front of crowd of people plus those watching on T.V."

"You have one weird wife, Ketchum." Gary and Mr. Ketchum must have had a really good relationship for Gary to be able to insult his wife like that. If I had something like that to Mr. Ketchum, I would have never lived to see another day. "Hot, yes, but very weird."

Just then, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I flipped it open to see that I had one unread message. Seeing who it was from, I smiled at the new name I had added her name under. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

**From: The Baby Twerp**

**Hey! How's it going? You surviving okay?**

I couldn't help but laugh at her message and how she was so concerned about this day. Ever since I had agreed to go, she had been apologizing beforehand for anything her father, brother, or uncles said or did.

**To: The Baby Twerp**

**Everything's fine. No need to worry. :) **

**Although, you're brother can really get into the game…**

After pressing send, it was only seconds before it vibrated again with her reply.

**From: The Baby Twerp**

**Yeah… I'm so sorry about that…You can blame my mom for that one. **

I guess it was no secret that Noah and his mom were pretty similar.

**To: The Baby Twerp**

**It's fine. Don't worry about it. **

**From: The Baby Twerp**

**Hmm. You say that now… Well, I've got to go. TTYL and good luck!**

Closing my phone, I slipped it back in my pocket before turning back to the game. It was the top of the 4th inning, and the Starmies were up by 3 with a score of 1-4. I hated to admit it, but I didn't really know a whole lot about baseball and what the different terms meant. Unlike the Ketchum family, in the Rowser family, our favorite sport to watch was hockey, since my older brother Matt had played before he started his journey. So, when Mr. Ketchum told me that he would be taking me to a baseball game, I was really nervous. Not wanting to look like an idiot, I went on the Internet and read as much as I could about the rules of baseball.

"Did you see that dad?" I heard Noah yell some more. "He was totally safe I tell you! Safe!" Once again, Gary rolled his eyes, muttering something about Mrs. Ketchum as a kid.

"I'm going to grab something to eat. Anybody want anything?" Brock asked. Noah and Mr. Ketchum, being the avid food lovers they were, each ordered a hotdog, while Gary passed. At first I wasn't too hungry, but the more I thought about it, the more a popcorn sounded really good. "How about you come help me, Grant?"

"Okay," I agreed. I wouldn't say this out loud, but I would do anything not be left alone with Mr. Ketchum right now. Granted, Gary and Noah were there, but they hadn't exactly been very helpful toward me.

Getting out of my seat, I followed Brock up the steps and out to the area where all the concession stands were. I didn't know a whole lot about him, only the bits and pieces Madeline told me whenever came up. What I did know, though, was that he had two daughters-Madeline's unofficial cousins-who were younger than her, but older than her brother Noah. Just like my own family, he was a Pokemon Breeder who ran a very successful shop with his wife. Lastly, I knew that he and Madeline had always been really close when she was growing up.

"Took her to Team Rocket's restaurant for the first date, huh?" I heard Brock ask, breaking the silence. "You've got some guts kid."

Great. I knew that Madeline's dad had known that we had gone there, so he must have told Brock since they were good friends.

"I really didn't mean to," I told him in my defense. I had been good friend of Jessie and James, and since they had really wanted to meet my date, I figured it would be a good idea to take Madeline to their restaurant. In the end, though, it had been a terrible idea.

"It's all right," he told me. "I thought it was pretty funny."

"I doubt the Ketchum's did. Especially Mr. Ketchum," I explained. "I don't think they like very much, and I know that didn't exactly help me."

He stopped walking to face me, giving me a look of sympathy, probably trying to understand what I was going through. Don't get me wrong, I really did like the Ketchum family and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. It's just…I had always had this vibe that they saw me as an intruder so, they didn't like me very much. And to make matter worse, I always had to go and do something wrong that just made them even more weary of me.

"You're trying too hard," he told me. Trying to hard? I would have never thought that possible of me. I was always told-mostly by Madeline-that I could be rather lazy. "You just have to know how to appeal to each of them. After that, it's pretty easy to get them to like you. I mean, Maddie and I already like you, so you're almost there."

I knew Madeline liked me, seeing as she had agreed to date me and had kissed me. Off the record, that was really great by the way. It was the perfect ending to what seemed to be a terrible first date. But, it was a relief to know that Brock liked me. I knew he was really close to the Ketchum family so, if I played my cards right and listened to him, I could get closer to the Ketchum family. Plus, I wasn't going to take any advice from Gary anymore.

"How do I do that?" I asked him. It was like he was this sorcerer that had all the secrets that I needed to accomplish a seeming impossible task. "Appeal to them?"

Since it appeared as if it would take him some time to explain all this to me, he stopped and sat down on a nearby bench. He waited for me to sit down before he started talking. As he started talking, though, I felt like I should have been taking notes.

"You see Maddie's the easiest. Ever since she was a kid, she's made friends pretty easily and she likes pretty much everyone as long as you don't do anything to hurt her." If Madeline was the easiest, then the others were going to be impossible. It had taken me years to get her to like me and trust me enough to tell me about her family. I could only imagine how long it would take her family. "She's very similar to Ash, so whatever worked on her will probably work on him. Now Misty, well, she's unique. If you want her to like you, you have to make sure you do three things: Never insult water pokemon or her, just treat Maddie well. Misty loves her children so, if you want to get close to her, you keep doing what you're doing for Maddie. If Maddie likes you, Misty will. Oh, and although he doesn't like to admit it, Misty's got Ash whipped. So, if you ever have any problems with him, just tell Misty and she'll se him straight."

"Yeah. I learned what happens when you insult her. Luckily, I didn't know and was able to blame Gary for it. If I hadn't, than I wouldn't be sitting here."

That had been the scariest day of my life, and I'd had some pretty scary things happen before. And although asking Mrs. Ketchum for help sounding appealing, I wouldn't have the guts to tattle tale on Mr. Ketchum.

"Ha ha, I remember him telling me about that. Don't ever listen to Gary." Duly noted. "Now Noah, he's tough. He's kind of a mixture of all the traits of Ash and Misty that can be hard to deal with sometimes. He's very competitive, sarcastic, witty and outspoken. If you want Noah to like you, don't be afraid to compete with him every now and then or try to outwit him. And if you win, don't rub it in because he hates losing. Also, this may be hard, but if you tease Maddie every now and then when he's around, that will definitely help you. Don't get me wrong, he loves his sister, but he loves teasing her just as much."

The more I thought about it, the more it all made sense. But there was still one Ketchum left, and he was the hardest one in my eyes. "And what about Mr. Ketchum?"

"Ah yes. Mr. Ashton Satoshi Ketchum. Despite what you may think, under that title he's really just a big softy. The easiest way to get him to like you is through Pikachu. Pikachu and Ash have been together since he started his journey. So, if Pikachu loves you, Ash will, too. Oh, and try to just treat him like a normal person. He hates when people treat him differently just because he's famous."

I know it sounded really dumb when I said this, but I did anyway. "Wow, you're like a encyclopedia of the Ketchum family."

"Ha ha. I guess that's what you get when you've been around them so long," he laughed. I guess it was true, considering how long he had known Madeline's parents and Madeline herself. "Well we better get the food before they think something happened to us."

When we returned to our seats, Noah and Gary had moved around so that I was forced to sit right next to Mr. Ketchum. Knowing them, they had planned this as some sort of test to see if I was able to sink or swim. With Brock's advice, though, I was going to make sure I swam. I wasn't going to let them be the downfall of me. When I sat down, I could see Noah and Gary exchanging looks, trying not to laugh.

Taking Brock's advice to treat Mr. Ketchum like a normal person, and a little bit of the information I already knew, I tried to strike up a conversation with him about the one thing I knew he loved the most. "Mr. Ketchum, how'd you and your wife meet?"

I think he was a little surprised to be asked this question, but his expression quickly changed as he started laughing, a big smile on his face. "Man, it's been a while since I've been asked that. Well…"

For the rest of the game, I actually had my first decent conversation with Madeline's father where he didn't get mad at me or I didn't say anything dumb. He told me about how he had met his wife when she fished him out of a river and he destroyed her bike. She had followed him all the way to Viridian and long after that, demanding that she wouldn't leave until he paid her back for her bike. He even went on to tell me about all the adventures him and his friends had, and how he had met all these different legendary pokemon. I had to admit, Madeline's dad was a pretty cool guy. She had never told me any of these stories about her dad, so this was all new information to me.

It would be an understatement to say that Gary and Noah were shocked at how well I was getting along with Mr. Ketchum. Seeing their baffled expression as I chatted with Mr. Ketchum about how his wife had traveled with him without him knowing it, only made my confidence rise. I wouldn't tell him this, but maybe Brock was wrong. Maybe the key to getting Mr. Ketchum to open up and talk to you wasn't Pokemon, but his wife, Misty. I didn't really care that it's all he talked about during the game. I just cared that I had found the one thing that finally worked to my advantage.

"So Grant," I heard Noah call my name. Seeing as he and Gary had failed, I had a feeling he was going to try and pull something on me. "Any good stories about Maddie? Preferably embarrassing ones?"

Ah. So he wanted to see if I would be willing to give away his sister's embarrassing moments? I could work with that. "Ha ha. Tons," I told him. His face turned into a wicked smile, indicating I had clearly chosen the right answer. "There was this one time when we were in Goldenrod and we went to see this water ballet. Before the show they asked her to be a part of it because one of the extras was sick. As part of her role, she had to dive into the pool. When she went to dive in, she slipped on some water and fell into the pool, screaming the whole way down. She didn't have time to correct herself, so she belly smacked into the pool. Everyone started laughing so hard, and her face turned so red. Afterwards, she hid in the dressing room, yelling about how she was a disgrace to her mom."

Noah started cracking up, clutching his stomach as he bent over, unable to contain the laughter. To be honest, I didn't think the story was THAT funny, but Noah sure thought so. Even Mr. Ketchum laughed a bit, saying how his wife would blame him for his daughter being a klutz.

"I got to tell my mom," Noah announced.

As I sat there telling Noah a few more embarrassing stories about his sister, I couldn't help but think how I owed Brock for saving me. Without him, I could have never gotten to where I was now. And as Noah blabbered on about how his sister had tried to take him back to the baby store as a kid, I mouthed a thank you to Brock as he smiled as if to say, you're welcome.

XXX

Later that evening when Mr. Ketchum dropped me off at my house, I felt a hundred times better than I had when he picked me up. To top it off, his prized pokemon, Pikachu, had fallen asleep on my lap. Lightly rocking him as not to scare him, I tried to wake him up. He twitched his ears before arching his back and shaking his head to get the sleepiness out of him. When I told him I had to go, he hopped off my lap and onto the empty seat behind me. Before I got out of the car though, I wanted to say one more thing.

"Thank you for taking me, Mr. Ketchum," I thanked him. "I had a really fun time."

"You're welcome, Grant," he told me. "It was really nice to get to know you."

I nodded back before opening the passenger door and hopping out of the car. As I started walking, though, I stopped remembering something that I had put in my pocket to give to him later. Turning back around before he left, I quickly walked back to the car and pulled some ketchup packets out of my pocket.

"Here," I told him, handing over the packets. "These are for Pikachu. He seems to like them a lot so I saved some from the game for him."

He took the packets from me just before Pikachu bounded into his lap, nudging his hand that held the packets. Setting the other two in the cup holder next to him, he opened the other one before handing it to Pikachu. Mr. Ketchum just shook his head, laughing at his pokemon antics.

"I think you just made a best friend," he told me. I just smiled, knowing that I just won over the one thing that, according to Brock, would help me win over Mr. Ketchum. Waving goodbye, I watched them drive away before I walked back into my house.

Later that night as I sat on my bed, I felt my phone vibrate as it bounced around on my bed. Flipping it open, I saw that I had one new message.

**From: The Baby Twerp**

** WHAT DID YOU DO? o_O**

** Did you drug my dad and brother?**

**They won't stop talking about you!**

If this didn't prove I had succeeded, I don't know what else did. As I started typing my reply, though, I was stopped when another message from Madeline popped up.

**From: The Baby Twerp**

**YOU TOLD THEM ABOUT THE BELLYFLOP!**

**I'm going to kill you.**

Quickly deleting the message I had planned to send, I shut my phone figuring it was best not to reply to her when she was threatening me. Sure I had told them the story, but in the end, it was totally worth the sacrifice. I mean, she couldn't expect me to always be on her side, right? As I was about to call it a night, though, my phone vibrated once more. Figuring it was Madeline, I decided to at least read the message. When I opened my phone, I was surprised to see it was from a number I didn't recognize.

**From: Unknown Number**

**Sorry about my sister. :/ She can be kind of a drama queen. (This is Noah btw).**

** Anyways, hilarious story. My mom loved it.**

As I read Noah's text message, I couldn't help but feel I had just won the Pokemon League. i was well on my way to winning the hearts of the Ketchum family.


	33. M&G Part 4: The Wedding Part 1

**_The Wedding Part 1 (For all those who wanted a wedding chapter)  
><em>**

MADDIE: AGE 22

****_This is the first part of two for the wedding. I decided to divide it up so that I could show a little bit about what happened in the days leading up to it, as well as introduce some characters that hadn't appeared in my story-such as Brock and Gary's children, and Noah's girlfriend, as some of you requested. The next part will be the actual wedding. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Trying to be as quiet as I could, I crept down the steps before sitting down somewhere in the middle. From my spot on the steps, I watched my husband as he pressed play on the remote, leaning back on the couch to watch the T.V. Behind him on top of the couch all curled up was his Pikachu. He was really taking this a lot harder than I thought he would.<p>

"_Daddy! Daddy!" my daughter yelled as she ran through the bedroom, jumping onto the bed to wake up an unsuspecting Ash. Once on the bed, she stood up and started jumping on it. "Wake up, Daddy! Wake, up! Today your birthday!"_

_Despite being a heavy sleeper as a kid, there was no way Ash could avoid waking up when the whole bed was shaking and his daughter was yelling in that squeaky, kid voice of hers. _

"_Morning, Maddie," Ash greeted her, emitting a big yawn as he stretched his arms. _

_Now that Ash was awake, she plopped down on the bed before crawling over to give him a hug. "Happy Birthday, Daddy!" This was my cue to bring over the breakfast Maddie and I had prepared for Ash for his birthday. "Look, Daddy. We made you breakfast. Mommy made pancakes because she said those are your favorite. Look, there's a Pikachu, a big A and an M for Maddie and Mommy!" _

"_These are wonderful, Maddie," he told her, a big smile on his face. "And Mommy is right. I do love pancakes." _

"_Me, too," she agreed. "So, Daddy, how old are you this year?"_

"_How old am I?" he asked, a little surprised to be asked that question. "Hmm…let's see. I'm 28." _

"_28?" Maddie asked him, her eyes growing wide. "That's a big number! I can't count that high, Daddy!" _

"_Hey!" he smirked, trapping her in his arms to tickle her. "Your Daddy's not old silly." _

_Her little kid giggles and screeches filled the room as she tried to escape the clutches of Ash. As he tickled her, only causing her to giggle even more, I saw the happiest smile I'd ever seen on his face. For once, something had been more exciting than food._

I was about to stand up and make my presence known when the video switched to a different one.

"_Are you ready to go, Maddie?" Brock asked her. If I remembered correctly, Maddie was three and a half, and this was the first weekend she was spending away from Ash and I. _

"_Yep!"_

"_All right. Say goodbye because you won't see your Mommy and Daddy for a few days." _

"_Bye Mommy!" she told me as I gave her one last hug. She turned to Ash and gave him a big hug before walking back to Brock. _

"_Maddie, aren't you going to say goodbye to your Daddy?" I asked her. _

"_Smell ya later, Ashy boy," she told Ash, grinning from ear to ear. _

_The expression on Ash's face was priceless as he stood there trying to make sense of what his daughter had just said to him. There was only person who could have taught Maddie that, and it had been the person she had been with earlier this morning while Ash and I packed for our trip. _

"_Uh, see you guys on Sunday. I'll call if I need anything." With that Brock tried to usher Maddie out the door before she could say anything else. _

_When they were finally gone and I had shut the front door, I finally let lose the laughter that I had been trying to hard to hold back. _

"_It's not funny, Mist," Ash grumbled. _

"_You're right. It's hilarious," I told him before shutting off the camera. _

Standing up, I walked down the rest of the steps and into the family room. Walking up behind him, I slipped my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder. It was then that I noticed the photo album on the table, left open on a page with pictures of Ash and I each holding Maddie hours after she was born.

"What are you doing, Ash?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he replied, pushing pause on the video.

"Doesn't look like nothing," I argued back. "It looks like someone's taking a trip down memory lane."

"I found these when I was cleaning out the basement," he tried to convince me. I knew better, of course.

"I see," I replied. "So this has nothing to do with the fact that the little girl in those videos is getting married in, oh say, I don't know, a week?"

"Is that next week?" he asked, pretending he had completely forgotten. "Time sure flies, huh, Mist?"

"Yes it does, Ash. And that's precisely the reason you are sitting here now." I knew he was trying to hide it, but it was pretty obvious that Maddie's upcoming wedding was affecting him. Since practically the day she was born, her and Ash had always had a special bond, being an almost inseparable pair at times. So, for Ash to have to share that special bond with some other guy, that was something he was having trouble coming to terms with. "Ash, Maddie's not a little kid anymore, and watching a bunch of home videos isn't going to change that. She's getting married next week whether you like it or not."

"I know, Mist. I know," he huffed.

XXX

Just as I was about to finally relax on the couch, the phone rang. Grumbling as I stood up, I walked into the kitchen to pick it up.

"Hey mom," my son Noah's voice greeted me.

"Hey, sweetie. Are you close?" Due to his still ongoing journey, Noah was supposed to be on his way back from Hoenn so that he would be here in time for the wedding. Last I had heard from him, he was waiting for his ferry in Cinnabar that would take him to Pallet where Ash would pick him up.

"That's what I'm calling about," he explained. Oh no. What happened? "I'm going to be a few hours later than I thought."

"Why's that?"

"I…um...may have…um…missed the ferry?"

Now this was completely unlike Noah to miss the ferry, this being something that-no offense to Maddie-I would have totally expected from her. Noah on the other hand was usually very precise and knew what times his boats/trains/ferries, etc left.

"And why did you miss the ferry?"

"You probably don't really want to know," he told me.

Now, I wasn't stupid, so I knew that when he said that, I should ask him what the reason he had missed the ferry was. Any other time I wouldn't have been concerned too much, but this wasn't any other time; Maddie was getting married in two days.

"Oh, but I think I do," I scowled at him.

"Fine," he sighed in defeat. "I missed the ferry because I was with Hailey."

Ah yes. Hailey Reed: Noah's recently acquired girlfriend from Hoenn. Now, I hadn't had a boyfriend when I was Noah's age, but when I did have one, I knew exactly what he was going through. Case in point being that Ash was almost late for his first Elite Four match because, well…yeah.

"Noah," I sighed, putting my hand on my forehead, "just keep your hands to yourself long enough to get on the ferry."

"Mom," he yelped, his face turning about five shades of red.

"Just get on the ferry, Noah."

After that I hung up the phone and closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths. It wasn't even the wedding yet, and already I was getting stressed out.

"What's wrong, Mist?" I heard Ash ask me when he walked into the kitchen. "You look, uh, a little stressed."

"That was your son," I explained, pointing to the phone. "He missed his ferry because he was too busy making out with his girlfriend."

For some reason this caused him to laugh, something I knew he wouldn't do if I had told him it was Maddie in Noah's shoes. He walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me, puling me really close.

"I think I might have missed a few ferries and trains for that same reason," he smirked.

"Or almost missing an Elite Four match," I reminded him.

"Ah, yes," he chuckled. "I remember that."

He stepped forward again, pushing me back a bit until my back hit the counter. From there he got even closer, and closed the space between us. Although the kitchen wasn't the most romantic spot, I wasn't complaining. It made me feel like a teenager again when we would sneak off after his matches or away from Brock and Pikachu to spend some time alone together. We never did IT (or make wishes), but we did do a lot of kissing.

Before I knew it, I started hearing little kid giggles that you could tell they were trying hard at hiding, but weren't doing a good job. My eyes flew open and I turned around to see Gary and his family standing there, watching us. When had they gotten here?

"Oh, please continue, Red," he smirked. "You and Ashey boy are teaching my children some very important stuff."

"Gary?" Ash asked, finally realizing he was there. His cheeks turned a small tint of red, something I hadn't seen since he was a teenager. He looked cute.

"Aunt Red," Gary's six-year old daughter, Grace called, "where's Noah? He said he'd play with me when I got here."

Kneeling down so I was equal to her height, I gave her a sympathetic smile. "He's not here yet, Gracie. He'll be here later, though."

For some reason, Gary's daughter Grace had taken a strong liking to Noah, following him everywhere when he was home, and always wanting to talk to him when she came to visit. She thought, despite Ash's title, that Noah was the coolest trainer out there, and that he could beat anyone as, apparently, she had told Gary many times. We had yet to see how she handled Noah having a girlfriend since she hadn't yet met Hailey.

"She's been asking me about him the whole way here. I tried to explain to her that we don't like Ketchums, but she won't listen," Gary explained. I knew that he didn't actually mean he hated us. It was just something that he had always joked about, and had always joked around with his kids about. Just like he had somehow convinced them that my name was Red and not Misty. "I never thought my own daughter would be a Ketchum lover. Thank goodness they're ten years apart."

"Right, so, would you like me to show you to your room?" I asked him, trying to switch topics.

"Is it next to you and Ash's? Because if it is, after that little display, I want a room change."

"Gary," his wife, Emily hissed, whacking him on the side of the head. "Be nice."

XXX

"Thanks for helping me cook all the food," I thanked Mrs. Ketchum as we grabbed some bowls and plates to hand out.

"Not a problem, Misty," she told me, being herself as usual. Nothing you ever asked her to help with was a problem. "How's my son doing with all this?"

Leave it to Mrs. Ketchum to ask about her son and not the soon to be bride like everyone else. At the same time, though, maybe she could help him.

"He's okay," I told her. "He's definitely letting this affect him more than it should. Last week he spent every night in front of the T.V. watching old videos. He's taking it a lot harder than I thought. I think it's because they've always been super close."

She laughed, a small smile on her lips. "Yes they are. It was like taking care of Ash all over again when she came over. I'll talk to him, though. I'm sure he'll be okay."

When we reached the dining room, the table was now packed with friends and family, all yelling across the table at each other. I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that, no matter what I may wish, I will never get that peaceful dinner with these people here. Their personalities all were way to different from each other, their children only reflecting that more.

At the far end of the table was my sister Daisy, her husband Tracey and my niece Katie. Next to Daisy was Lilly and Violet who, surprisingly, never got married, being too busy with their careers. Across from them was the Oak family of Gary, his wife Emily, and their three kids. Their oldest was Luke who had started his journey last year with a Squirtle. After him, they had another son named Ben who was nine and full of energy. Unlike his brother Luke, he was the spitting image of his dad, including the arrogance and wittiness attributed to his father. Their youngest and only daughter Grace (Gracie, as I liked to call her) was unexpected at first, but was a ball of energy when she arrived. Similar to Maddie when she was younger, Grace liked to tell people all about how she was going to be just like her father when she got older. Next to them was Brock and his family. After he had gotten married to Suzie, it was only a year later that they had their two twin girls, Sophie and Lena who were now both 17. Lastly, and certainly not least, was the Rowser family of Eddie and Sarah, and their oldest son, Matt. Unlike me, they had been through this whole thing since their son Matt had gotten married to his wife Maria two years ago.

"Thank you very much for inviting us, Misty. This is a lovely dinner," Mrs. Rowser thanked me. "Please tell whoever cooked this that this is just wonderful."

"That would be me," Brock said from a few chairs down. "And I'm glad you like it. It's one of my specialties." Of course it was...Everything he cooked was one of his specialties.

"We're here!" I heard Ash announce when he, Noah and Hailey walked into the dining room. "Finally."

I looked over to catch my first glance at Noah's girlfriend since this was the first time I was meeting her. He had told us a little about her, but since his phone calls were far and few between, we didn't know much. When it came to her height, Noah had a good foot on her, only adding to her tiny frame. She had reddish-brown hair that she wore down with a small braid on one side. And just like Noah, she had very green eyes that stuck out with her hair. For her outfit, she wore a long, red and white striped top and black leggings. She was definitely very pretty. And, from what Noah had told me, she had a twin sister named Mia. So, like my own sisters, I'm pretty sure Hailey and Mia got a lot of attention from boys.

"Noah!" Grace cried, climbing out of her seat to go greet him. She rushed over to him and jumped into his arms. "I saved you a spot next to me."

"Aww," Hailey cooed. "Who are you? You're so adorable!"

"This is Grace," Noah answered for her, knowing she tended to be shy when first meeting people. "Grace, this is Hailey. She's my girlfriend."

"I'm his girlfriend, too," she told Hailey. This caused pretty much everyone in the room to snicker. It was very clear that Grace didn't understand what Noah was talking about.

"You are?" Hailey smirked. "Noah, you didn't tell me there was another girl waiting for you at home."

Noah just shrugged his shoulders before heading over to the empty seat that Grace had saved for him. Since Grace was unaware that Hailey would be joining Noah, there was only one seat, forcing her brother Luke to have to move over one.

After I helped Mrs. Ketchum pass out the last of the food, I took my seat next to Ash, taking a deep breath, finally able to relax. I knew things were going to be crazy, but I hadn't thought they were going to be THIS crazy. I had spent the whole day cleaning rooms and trying to place people as best as I could. Thankfully, the league had let Ash borrow the big mansion in the Viridian they reserved for league members only, or else our little home in Pallet wouldn't have enough rooms. We had never used it before, so this was the first time. And, unlike the other members who used it, we were using everything in the house with the amount of people we had staying here.

XXX

_The Night Before_

"You ready for tomorrow, Maddie?" I asked my daughter while she helped me clean up.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she replied as she picked up a few dishes and stacked them on top of each other. "I'm a bit nervous, though. How did you feel the day before?"

"Me?" I was a little surprised by her question. I hadn't really thought about my own wedding in years. "Well, to be honest, I was freaking out. Gary and Brock had taken your father out for one last night of being single, and at two in the morning, they still weren't back yet. They eventually did, though, and to this day, I still don't know what happened."

She laughed a little bit at this. "So who's going to help me get ready tomorrow?"

"Daisy and I will, but I'm sure your Aunt Lilly and Violet will want to join in. Daisy said she'd do your makeup for you, and Lilly and Violet asked if they could do your hair, but that's up to you. Oh! Your grandma said she had something for you. Have you decided what your something old, blue, borrowed, and new will be?"

I don't know why, but this family was big about traditions and making wishes.

"Uh, yeah," she replied, looking up to look at me. "Let's see. For something old, I have dad...just kidding. But, um, I was going to use the necklace dad gave you when you two got married; for something borrowed, Grandma said she had something for me; something blue, I have a blue flower I was going to wear in my hair; finally, for something new, I have my dress._" _

"Okay, good," I replied. "Remind me to give you the necklace tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

"I can't believe your getting married tomorrow. It feels like yesterday that I was holding you in my arms for the first time," I cooed. Unlike Ash, I had prepared myself for this upcoming day. Nonetheless, though, it was still hard for me to believe that my oldest daughter was getting married in less than 24 hours. After that, she would no longer be at home all the time, now calling Viridian her new home. After that, she would call me to tell me she was going to have a baby, and I would have grandchildren. Granted, I was getting a bit ahead of myself, I still couldn't help but think of those things. "Tomorrow's going to be great, though. I promise."

"I know it will," she smiled at me, confidence in her voice.


	34. M&G Part 5: The Wedding Part 2

_**The Wedding Part 2**_

MADDIE: AGE 22

"Oh my god! Like, we only have five more minutes!" my sister Daisy yelled. Contrary to what she thought, we had plenty of time left. She was just freaking out for no reason whatsoever. "Baby sis, hand me the mascara now!"

"But I-" Maddie tried to protest, but Daisy just ignored her as usual. To Daisy, a wedding was right up there with a fashion shoot in order of importance. I honestly think she cared more about how Maddie looked than Maddie herself. "Never mind."

After I handed Daisy the mascara, I stood back and watched, knowing that if I tried to help, I would only be getting in the way. In fact, I knew it would be a better use of my time if I were to go and get Ash so that we wouldn't have to wait for him. Confident that Maddie was in almost good hands, I left the room to go find my husband.

In a room just down the hall, were Brock, Noah, Gary and Ash. While Gary and Brock were helping Gary's two sons get ready, Noah sat in a chair watching a pacing Grant, while Ash sat in another chair petting Pikachu. Although I had originally came to get Ash, I felt that it would be in my interest to try and assure Grant that everything was going to be fine.

"Grant," I called. He finally stopped pacing to look up at me. "Are you okay? You look a little nervous."

"Me?" he asked, his voice shaking a bit. "Oh, no way. I'm just thinking…yeah, thinking."

"It's going to be fine," I assured him, throwing in a smile. "If it makes you feel any better, Maddie's just as nervous."

"Oh, all right," he replied before walking off to go sit somewhere.

Over the past week, Ash hadn't been doing so well with the whole Maddie getting married. He had kept trying to pretend that it wasn't going to happen, which honestly, had me a bit worried. All I could think about, was that when he reached the alter, he wouldn't let go of her. If that happened, then things wouldn't go so well.

"Ash." He looked up from petting Pikachu to see me walking toward him. When he saw me, though, his expression turned to one of worry. "You ready?"

Without saying a word, he stood up and handed Pikachu over to Noah before walking toward the exit. I guess that was his way of saying yes. I really wish he would say something, though. Something that would let me know how he was feeling. When he was only a few feet away from Maddie's door, he stopped. Catching up with him in the hallway, I grabbed his arm so that he was forced to stop and look at me. When I saw his face, though, it now longer looked worried, but instead very sad.

"Mist, I-" he started to say, but was cut off when small tears started falling from his eyes. Not really knowing what else to do, I pulled him tight into a hug. I knew he was taking this a lot harder than he had let on.

"Is everything okay?" I looked up to see Maddie standing a few feet away from us.

"Maddie!" I heard Daisy yell from inside. "You're, like, not supposed to go out yet! It's, like, bad luck if Grant sees you!"

Ignoring her aunt's warnings of bad luck, Maddie shut the door behind her before walking over to us. Once again, she asked if everything was okay, to which I responded with a nod of my head. I didn't want her to worry since it was her special day, and I knew that eventually, Ash would be okay, too.

"Dad," I heard Maddie snicker, "I thought you said Pokemon Master's don't cry?"

At this, Ash looked up, a small laugh escaping his lips. "That's true," he told her, "but Dad's do."

"Dad, you're acting like you'll never see me again," she said, shaking her head. "I can promise you right now that we will visit as often as we can. Plus, you know, if you ever have grandkids, they'll probably want to see their grandparents…"

XXX

I feel a gentle squeeze on my hand as I look up and see my daughter smiling at me. _This is it,_ I think to myself. After this she will no longer be Madeline Ketchum, but instead Madeline Rowser. As we stand there waiting for her turn, I can honestly say that I am about as nervous as I was when I competed for my title. I hear the music start up and see the doors open in front of me. Everyone stands up and the people at the front turn around. I see a look on Grant's face that I wore when I first saw Misty at our wedding. I feel Maddie pull me along with her as she begins walking down the aisle. I try to keep up with her, not wanting it to look like she's dragging me down the aisle. As we walk closer to the alter, I catch Misty's eye, her giving me a nod as if to say, "your doing well."

Before I know it, we reach the end of the aisle and it's time for me to let go. Letting go: Two words I had heard over and over this past week, but had tried to ignore. Now I couldn't ignore them. Now was when I had to let go and let Maddie live her own life with somebody else. I knew that she would come and visit like she had told me, and that one day, I would possibly have grandkids I would help her raise. But until then, things were going to change. She would live in Viridian with Grant, wanting a change of scenery from when she grew up. Although close by, her visits would become less frequent as she would be helping Grant with the Viridian City gym. Since Noah would be traveling once again after the wedding, Misty and I would be empty nesters.

"I love you, Dad." Maddie's voice snapped me back to reality as I felt her kiss me on the check and slip her arm out.

I probably looked like an idiot standing there after my daughter was escorted the rest of the way by her soon to be husband. So, before I looked like an even bigger one, I turned around and quickly headed to my seat next to Misty.

"I'm proud of you, Ash," she told me, patting me on the back.

XXX

Since I was considered immediate family to the Ketchum's, I got the honor of sitting with them at the wedding reception. Unlike at Ash and Misty's wedding, though, I did not get the honor of giving the best man's speech. Then again, it was probably a good thing, considering what I said last year. It wasn't that it was a bad speech, it was just I had a few drinks before so, I had kind of winged it.

"_I would first like to say congrats to my two best friends on their marriage. On the other hand, though, all who are surprised that we are here please raise your hand. Nobody? That's what I thought. As you all know, it should be no surprise that we are standing here today, but at how long it took for us to be here. Now we all know that Ash isn't the keenest person on the plant, and that it took him a while to realize that Misty here was the one. I know that some of you have had the honor of traveling with both of them, but I must say that I have bragging rights in having traveled with them the longest. Now I wasn't there on the fateful day that Ash and Misty met when she caught her greatest catch to date. From what I had experienced with these two, it was not love at first sight by a long shot. In fact, I was convinced that they hated each other. After some time, though, it became pretty obvious that Misty had the hots for Ash and that she wanted to jump him any chance she got. In fact, because Ash was an idiot and refused to talk to her after she left, she disguised herself as a girl named Maddie and joined our group. You could imagine how surprised Ash was when he found out the girl he was in love with had been traveling with him without knowing it. However, you can imagine how surprised Gary and I were when Ash and Misty returned as a couple. I don't know what was worse: traveling with them as kids, or traveling with them when they were a couple in love? Talk about vomit. Now don't get me wrong, I love these two like family and I would do anything for them. In fact, I expect to be a big influence on their little Ash and Misty. Although, a little Ash or Misty isn't probably what the world needs right now. Anyways, to the happy couple!" _

Tonight, though, for Grant and Maddie's wedding, it was Grant's brother who had the honor. I didn't really know much about him, but he seemed pretty nice. Now, though, as he stood up and hit his glass with his fork, I would find out just exactly his take on Maddie and Grant's relationship.

"Uh, hi everyone. Some of you may know me, while others may not. For those who don't, I'm Matt Rowser, or Grant's older brother. I would first like to say that I am honored my brother choose me for his best man, and I hope my speech lives up to its expectations. Now I remember almost twelve years ago, my brother phoned home telling us that he had met this girl named Madeline. When we tried asking him about her, it became pretty obvious that he knew nothing about her whatsoever. He didn't know her last name, where she came from, or what her family was like. I remember making a comment to my brother about how he seemed to always find strange friends. Anyways, as the years went on, he would call us and tell us about his new friend and all the adventures they had together. According to him, he had to save them many time from getting lost or chased by wild Pokemon. Despite all these adventures, he still barely knew anything about her. Unfortunately, my mother soon fell very ill and my brother needed to return home to help my father since I was away at the time. According to my dad, he was very sad when he got home because he missed his friend and had no way of contacting her or knowing if he'd ever see her again. When my father sent him to Pallet Town to visit the famous researcher there, he called us in the center in Viridian to tell us that he had ran into his traveling buddy. I don't think I'd ever seen my brother so happy before. Later that night, though, when he called home, he looked really sad. According to my father, Grant had a fight with his friend after finally finding out who she really was. And let me tell you, I thought my brother was hallucinating again when he called me and told me that his traveling buddy had turned out to be the daughter of the Pokemon Master. It wasn't until I met her that I finally believed him. And let me tell you, Maddie-I call her Maddie- was one of the nicest, most down to earth girls I had ever met. And, she really knew how to put my brother in his place. From then on whenever she came to visit, my mom would make a fuss about everything being perfect because she hoped that one day Maddie would become her daughter in law. Little did we know that one day that would in fact be true. I'm very happy to welcome Maddie and her family to the Rowser family, and I hope that we can create a family as tight as the one Maddie comes from."

XXX

I was never good at dancing despite the many dances I had to attend as Pokemon Master. So, when it was time for the annual father-daughter dance, I was a bit nervous. Even though Maddie assured me that she wasn't any better at dancing than I was, I still felt that I needed to be decent. Since Maddie was, well, Maddie, we didn't really dance so much as just try to have fun. It had always been this way since she was little when we would dance around in the kitchen together. I never liked dancing as a kid, but once I had kids, dancing became one of the many things that I did to please Maddie. Then, she would sit on my shoulders and we would dance around to whatever was on the radio or those little kid CDs she loved. Now, though, she was too big to sit on my shoulders, and she had grown out of the little kid CDs and into who knows what. We started out dancing slow like you were supposed to, but after a while she started inventing her own way of dancing this special dance. It didn't have a name that I know of, but it was full of lots of twirls and moving back and forth. Whatever it was, though, it made me smile, the nerves of dancing well vanishing instantly because it reminded me of when she was little.

"See?" she told me as I spun her around. "You're not bad."

No, I guess I wasn't too bad. Leave it to Maddie, though, to find her own way of spicing something up and making it her own. As we glided down the dance floor some more, I saw Misty laughing at us, while Noah just rolled his eyes, embarrassed by his dad and sister. Soon after, Brock and his daughters as well as Gary and Grace joined us, while the other daughters and fathers soon followed. When that was all done with, it was time for Maddie to find someone else to dance with. As I watched my daughter search for someone in particular, I couldn't help but laugh when she walked up to Brock and asked him to dance. Of course he said yes, since Maddie was one of the few girls that loved him just the way he was. I unsuccessfully held back another laugh as Grace ran over to Noah and grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the dance floor. I of course, asked Misty.

XXX

"So Grant, I see you decided to marry the Twerp's daughter," I heard Jessie tell me.

"Well, yeah. I mean we ARE at our wedding, and we ARE officially married now," I told her.

"I know," she replied. "But why? I mean it's a twerp. They can get pretty annoying after a while."

I sighed in annoyance, having heard this exact same question many times from her. Every since I had told them that I was marrying Madeline, they had been cracking jokes about how I was crazy for marrying the Twerp's daughter, and how Madeline would soon become annoying just like her parents. When I had tried to explain to them that I did not find her annoying at all, they would always ask me why. Why was I marrying her? Why did I love her? Why, why, why? It was like a little kid asking questions.

"Because I love her," I told her for what felt like the billionth time.

"But why?" she asked. I couldn't help but give a little face palm, so sick of answering this question. "I'm kidding, Grant. Calm down. I know why you love her, but I'll always think your crazy for marrying a twerp."

"Wouldn't be the first time I've been called crazy," I replied rather sarcastically.

"Hmm. Won't be the last time I call you it either."

"So, how'd your reunion with Madeline's parents and uncle go?"

Ash and Misty had kindly agreed to let me invite Jessie and James to the wedding, but they hadn't actually seen each other until the reception. Although, now that I think about it, Pikachu had came over earlier, and at the sight of them, ran away immediately in search of his trainer.

"We have yet to have that. I've seen them a few times, but there are a lot of people here." She looked around to see if she could spot them again. "I was thinking of making an entrance and bringing out the old motto. What'd you think?"

"Uh huh," I replied without really thinking. I was too busy watching Madeline dancing with some little kids. She looked so pretty in her wedding dress. I didn't know much about dresses, but whatever she had picked, it looked beautiful on her in all the right places. From what I could describe, it was a long white dress with a flower pattern on the bottom, straps on the side, and small bow in the back. There was a bit more to it, but I wasn't sure what. "She's going to be a great mom."

I heard Jessie laugh from beside me. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" I just turned toward her and shook my head. "Well then, it's your fault. And, I didn't know you've already knocked her up. When did this happen?"

"I uh…"

This just made her laugh even more. "James," I heard her call to her husband who was a few feet away. He walked over to us and pulled up a chair, "you won't believe what Grant here just told me. The little twerp lover already knocked up the Twerp's daughter."

"Oooo," he cooed. "I see someone was to eager to wait until the honeymoon. Have you told the Twerp?"

Curse my slip of the tongue. If I hadn't been watching her dance with those kids, I wouldn't have said anything. It was just that, ever since Madeline had told me, every time I saw her with kids, I always thought about how great a mother she was going to be. Obviously, she wasn't far along enough for anyone to notice, so we had been able to keep it a secret. In the back of mind, however, I knew that soon, this wouldn't be the case.

"You can't say anything," I hissed at them, making sure to keep my voice low. "She would kill me."

"And so soon after the wedding," James commented. "What a shame."

"James," I whined, "you can't tell Madeline's parents anything!"

"Fine," James grumbled. He stood up to leave, but before he did, he ruffled my hair saying, "You worry to much, Grant."

"You two blab too much," I countered.

They just ignored me, though, going off to do something else. Hopefully, though, they wouldn't be doing anything that would get me into trouble or ruin my reputation with the Ketchum family. Why had I invited them again?

XXX

"So this last one is from my parents," I told Grant as I picked up a large box. After the wedding, we had spent the evening opening some of our presents. Although we weren't moving into our new house for a week, Grant's parents had kindly let us leave the stuff at their house. "I can only imagine what this is."

"I have no idea," he replied. Since it was kind of a large box, it was too big to pick up. "It kind of looks like a scroll."

"It's probably a picture or something. My mom is big on the giving pictures," I explained.

"Well we won't know until you open it," Grant said. He was obviously eager to open this gift.

Following his suggestion, I started pulling off the wedding themed wrapping paper, slowly revealing a white box. When all the paper was off, I still had no idea what was in the box. Luckily, on the top was a little slit that you used to open the box. When I opened the box, I flipped it over, allowing a large poster like thing to fall out. Maybe it was a picture just like I had thought. As I started unrolling what I thought to be a poster, I found myself groaning in annoyance as what I thought to be a poster, turned out to be a map of the Kanto region. It was very detailed with the route names and every thing, along with the fastest ways out of the forests. I should have seen this coming, but of course, I had thought my parents would take this seriously.

"We should hang this in the kitchen," Grant suggested. "That way when you leave, you'll know exactly where you're going."

This stupid map had just given Grant an even greater chance to make fun of my ability to get incredibly lost.

"Ha ha, thanks," I laughed very dryly. "Just open the card. I'm sure it explains what possessed them to give us this stupid map."

"All right." Grabbing the card that came with it, he opened it up and pulled out the card. When he opened the card, though, two slips of paper fell out onto his lap. Leaning over to see what they were, I discovered that in addition to the map, my parents had also thrown in two bike vouchers. On the voucher where you put whom it was from, they had written a little note that said, "Beware of Pikachus." Why was it that my parents couldn't seem to let go of the jokes about bikes and them being destroyed? "You know? I was actually thinking about buying a new bike the other day. I was thinking we could buy one of those bikes where you can put a little kid in the back. You know? Since you're expecting and everything?"

"I guess," I shrugged. "Although, we have to hide the bike until we tell them."

"Right." He flipped over the voucher, examining it thoroughly. "So when are we going to tell them? Your parents that is."

"Not for a while. We're going to pretend this happened during the honeymoon."

"Okay."

Luckily, nobody had noticed at the wedding that I was pregnant, so, if things went according to plan, I could pretend that I had gotten pregnant around the time of our honeymoon. I mean nobody would really try to calculate when it happened if I just told them. Plus, I wouldn't really look pregnant for another month or two. So, as long as I didn't tell anyone, I would be okay. Although things hadn't gone exactly as I had planned, I was still very excited about having a family. And I was sure that, when they found out, my parents would be just as excited, if not more.


	35. The Maddie Show

**_AN: The next two stories aren't new. I just wanted to move some one-shots I wrote from being individual stories to my story The Joys Of Children. Sorry. :(  
><em>**

* * *

><p><strong><em>The Maddie Show<em>**

MADDIE: AGE 6

"Misty! Misty!" I heard my husband yell, racing down the steps. Setting down the bowl I was using, I rushed to meet him at the end of the steps.

"What's wrong?" I asked him in a panic.

He just looked at me, a confused look on his face. "Nothing's wrong."

"Ash!" I yelled. "Don't worry me like that! I thought something bad had happened!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I just came down to ask you where the boom box was."

"What do you need the boom box for?" I asked him a bit suspicious.

"I'm trying to teach Maddie something."

"In the guest room." With that, he turned around and ran back up the steps. I shook my head at his retreating figure, confused by my husband's antics. What exactly was he teaching my daughter up there?

The next morning, I was drinking my morning coffee and reading the paper when a yellow piece of paper fell out of the newspaper.

_The Maddie Show_

_ 11AM Today_

_ The Family Room_

My daughter Maddie liked to put on little shows for Ash and I using the Pokemon. I had slowly started to learn when these shows would occur because Pikachu, a main actor in all her shows, would mysteriously go missing after breakfast. Like every show day, she would slip a note she had written, with the help of Ash, into the newspaper for me to see. I learned quickly that I didn't need to reply because she didn't allow anybody to see her before the show, forcing me to have to wait. Normally my husband was around after breakfast, but he had gone mysteriously missing as well.

To pass the time until the show, I did some minimal cleaning around the kitchen, making sure to stay out of the family room. When the clock read 10:55, I poured myself some tea and headed to the family room. When I got the family room, I noticed that any trace of sunlight had been covered up. What was she doing? As I looked at Maddie's makeshift stage in front of the fireplace, I noticed the boom box Ash had asked about yesterday. Hmmm. I was slowly starting to connect the dots.

At exactly 11:00, the lights went out and I was left in the dark, unable to see anything. Suddenly, though, two spotlights sitting on the mantle lit up the stage and I heard an all too familiar tune coming from the boom box. Please, god, tell me he did not teach her what I thought he did.

"Prepare for trouble!" I heard my husband yell.

"And make it double!" Maddie yelled, following Ash's lead.

Yep. He did.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Ash!" Ash yelled, finally turning around.

"Maddie!" she mimicked, striking a victory pose of her own.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Pi! Pikachu!" Pikachu concluded, landing on the front of the stage dressed in a Mewoth costume.

"We want lunch!" Maddie demanded, decked out in a mini Team Rocket uniform.

"I don't make lunch for super villains," I teased her.

"Fine then. You've left us with no choice. I choose you Maddie!" Ash called to our daughter. Was he really going to now convince her that she was a pokemon in addition to a member of Team Rocket? "Use tickle attack!" My daughter raced towards me her hands ready to attack.

Luckily, I was able to catch her before she got to me, picking her up and placing her in a lap. She giggled in excitement as I retaliated and tickled her little tummy. "Stop Mommy," she cried.

"Don't give in, Maddie. Use charm just like I taught you." He was a sneaky one that Ash.

"I love you, Mommy," Maddie told me, turning around to give me a hug and big slobbery kiss on the cheek. "You're the best and most bootiful Mommy in the whole world." As much as I fought it, it was hard not to give in to my daughter's baby talk and puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, fine. I'll make us lunch," I sighed in defeat, as I stood up and placed her on the floor.

"Good work, Maddie," Ash complimented her. I almost expected him to say, "return".

"You know?" I told Ash. "Her and Pikachu could take over Team Rocket together with that routine."

"Ha ha. Probably," he laughed.

"I can't believe you taught her that."

"Well, while I was reading the paper the other day, she walked in and asked me for show ideas. I happened to be reading an article about Team Rocket when I came up with the idea. I mean, we had a ton of fun saying the motto as kids."

"Well, you're officially banned from giving her ideas."

"But she was great!" he said, trying to persuade me otherwise.

"You should tell Jessie, James and Meowth," I smirked. "They would be so proud."

"Whatever, Mist. You know you loved it and thought it was beyond adorable." Just as I was about to whack him upside the head for that comment, we heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it!" Maddie yelled as she raced to the front door. We heard her open the door before the next thing we heard was, "Prepare for trouble!"

"What?" I heard a confused Brock ask. "ASH! MISTY!"

"See what you've done?" I pointed out. "You've created a monster."

"Oh, god," he replied, smacking his forehead.

For the next month, whenever she answered the door or ran into a room, that's all we heard. It was like being chased by Team Rocket all over again.


	36. Way 163829365 To Make Misty Mad

_**Way 163829365 To Make Misty Mad**_

MADDIE: AGE 6_  
><em>

"Hey, Misty!" Brock greeted the red head standing on his doorstep. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I know. I was running some errands so I figured I would swing by," Misty explained.

"Where's Maddie?" Brock asked, looking around for the girl in question.

"She's with Delia for the day."

"Oh. Okay. So what brings you here?" Brock asked as Misty entered through the doorway.

"Maddie forgot some things here and I figured since I was nearby, I would swing by and get them," Misty stated.

"Okay. Do you know what she forgot?" Brock asked as he walked into the family room already starting to look.

"Oh. Just a few coloring books," Misty casually told him.

With an idea of what to look for, Brock started searching the family room for Maddie's missing coloring books. "Do you know what they look like? Did they have Pokemon on the cover or something?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Misty yelled at her friend. "I don't pay attention that that stuff." It was very evident to Brock that her temper was slowing rising.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Misty. Don't worry, I'll find them. I'm sure they are around here somewhere..." he assured her as he moved couch cushions and went through a chest of toys. As he started pulling out some toys from the chest, he found a few coloring books buried on the very bottom.

"Any luck?" Misty asked as she herself glanced around the room for the missing coloring books.

"Yep! I think I found them," he called, pulling the coloring books out from the toy chest. "Are these it?" he asked, showing Misty the stack of coloring books he had found.

"Oh. I'm not looking for THOSE coloring books," Misty told him, emphasizing the specific ones in his hand. "Those can stay here."

"Then what coloring books are you looking for, Misty?" Brock asked confused. These were the ones she wanted, right? "I don't know of any others."

"I'm looking for some coloring books that are a bit more interactive. More, how do you say it? Dress up like," she told him.

"Dress up like?"

"Oh. You know, ones where you can color your own clothes?" she asked him, a mischievous grin spreading on her face.

"Color your own clothes?"

"Yep. They don't have any to begin with, so you can color your own. You wouldn't happen to know where those are would you?" At this point in time, it had suddenly dawned on Brock what exactly Misty was referring to.

"Uh..."

"You know? The ones I would kill Ash for having within our daughter's reach?" If Brock didn't get her hints by now, Misty wasn't sure what else she could say. She didn't have to worry, though, because Brock understood. Loud and clear to be exact.

"Misty! It was an accident! I'm so sorry!" Brock explained, pleading with his now very angry friend.

"You idiot!" she yelled at him. "You're lucky Maddie didn't know what they were. How could you be so stupid to leave them lying around like that?" she demanded to know. Her hands were angled on her hips and she glared at Brock in pure anger.

"I didn't mean to leave them there. I forgot she was coming over! If you had warned me, I could have picked them up in time. But noooo, you had to just show up last minute."

"Don't try to blame this on me, Brock!" she yelled, her notorious temper staring to show its true colors. "Where are they?"

Sighing in defeat, Brock walked out of the family room to get his "special" coloring books. He had learned better than to fight Misty on things. When he came back, he handed Misty the magazines.

"Thank you," she replied a little to nicely. "I don't think you'll be needing these anymore." With that, she released a powerful looking Torkoal ("borrowed" from her husband, of course) and commanded it to use flamethrower. Brock watched in horror as his magazines were reduced to nothing but ash right before his eyes. Satisfied with the result of her actions, Misty recalled Torkoal and turned around to face Brock. "Now to deal with you!"

"Please don't kill me!" Brock pleaded, closing his eyes in preparation for her attack.

"It's a little too late for that Brock!" Misty threatened. "You should have thought about that before you exposed my daughter to that stuff!"

Just as Misty was about to knock Brock into a state of unconsciousness, the front door burst open. They both stopped and looked at the door, wondering who it could be.

"DON'T DO IT MISTY!" Ash yelled, rushing into the family room to hold back his angry wife. "He's not worth it." Ash tried to plead with his extremely angry wife in hopes of saving his best friend.

"You saved me!" Brock exclaimed, extremely grateful his friend had arrived just in the nick of time. "How did you now she was here?"

"I.. uh.. I know Misty pretty well," he explained. "When I got home, Maddie mentioned that her mother was "visiting" Uncle Brock's. I rushed over as fast as I could."

"Let me go, Ash!" Misty yelled, fighting against him. "IT'S HIS FAULT MY DAUGHTER GOT A HOLD OF THOSE STUPID MAGAZINES!"

"It was an accident, I swear!" Brock tried to explain to Ash.

Poor Ash was torn between saving his best friend and escaping the wrath of his wife. He hated when this happened and he had to choose. Normally, it was someone he didn't really care about, but this wasn't the case. Ash could understand better than Misty that it was just an accident, but he knew better. Misty was an angry and protective mother who took her job very seriously. If Ash tried to get between Misty's wrath and Brock, he would surely be a goner.

Realizing there was nothing he could do to convince Misty otherwise, he loosed his grip. "I'm sorry, Brock," he apologized before letting Misty go. "I tried, but there's no stopping her."

Brock's eyes widened in fear as he saw his best friend let go of Misty, allowing her to seek the revenge she had came for. Closing his eyes, Brock prepared for the impending doom he knew he would be facing. Ash just stood still, not saying a word as his wife knocked his best friend unconscious with the famous mallet of hers. Hey, at least it wasn't him this time. But still, he couldn't help feeling bad for his best friend who had ended up on the receiving end of Misty's anger due to a series of unfortunate events.

With that, Misty dragged an unconscious Brock to the couch before she turned around to leave. Ash stared at his friend, hoping that he was going to be okay. He had learned over time, that Misty was never powerful enough to do significant damages, but then again, she was never this mad. He would call Brock in the morning.

"You really didn't have to be that hard on him," Ash told Misty.

"He deserved it," she retaliated.

Knowing his efforts were futile, Ash sighed in defeat and followed his wife out the door, but not before writing Suzie a quick apology note. Maybe she'd understand.


End file.
